64 Breeding of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos. 



possibly I weaned him loo soon; and <is 1 did not wish lo 

 risk thn young birds at liberty I crc( trd a Hiyht, about 

 22ft. X left. X /ft. high, against a wall, with 5 or 6ft. at 

 one end roofed in. 



On July :j4i1i I taught the hen, on tiie next day the 

 cock was captured, and J moved the box with the young 

 bird:> into the flight, where "the photograph (frontispiece) was 

 taken. / now foujid tiie young were; capaofe of eating soft 

 bread, whicli they did from my fingers, not yet having the 

 idea of holding it for themselves. I took ofi' liicir chains, 

 and on their first exit from the box they could lly strongly. 



The hen did 'most of the incubation, and when .-.itting 

 she sometimes does not appear for two or three days. 1 {do not 

 know whether ifie cock feeds her, as I ne\er observed him 

 doing so, but when she does come to feed she appears to take 

 a fail time off from her duties. 



Both the youiig are in good healtli and condition at 

 the present time. (March 20, 191 7). 



The photos of the young birds {vide plate) w-ere all 

 taken on the same day, when they were about five weeks old. 



One or two points connected with this e\ent interested 

 me greatly, and I should like to know if they have already 

 been authenticated. 



(i). 1 presume most of the Psittaci mate for life 

 under ordinary conditions; but is it possible — as certainly 

 happened in the case of my pair of birds — that the nesting 

 site i^- habitually prepared in the year pre\'ious to that in 

 which it is to be used? If it is so 1 should imagine it to 

 be a unique characteristic. 



When my pair of birds set about preparing another 

 iiabitation in 1915, shortly after the young bird could feed 

 herself satisfactorily, 1 imagined they must be double- 

 brooded; this, 1 fancy, cannot be the case, as the present 

 pair of youngsters were fed regularly up to October, and 

 at frequent intervals I heard them feeding in November and 

 December, and I believe once in January this year. 



(2^. 1 was lucky enough — seeing how busy 1 ]ia\'e 



