Aviary A'otcs from the United States. 5 



the fact that we t^ave them too much of it. They love it and 

 are greedy birds and eat themselves into some sort of li\-er 

 complaint that shows itself first by the birds growing' \ery fat 

 and then wasting" away to a nervous wreck and dying in a fit. 

 I had a remarkably tame I'urple-capped Lory for about a year 

 that died the same way. Me was so tame that he was allowed 

 his liberty. He had remarkably (luick jerky movements and 

 loved to have his head scratched. His plumage was perfect 

 but his voice was so shrill and disagreeable that I finally put 

 him in the aviary, and he died in a fit. 



I hope someone some day will discover the proper food 

 for lories, but I imagine, as I said before, it may be quantity and 

 not quality, as no dog' would live in health with a full pan of 

 food always at his disposal, and it is possible these birds are the 

 same way. 



I have one true pair of fiping Crows, and an odd cock. 

 I like their call, though it would be impossible to describe it to 

 one who had not heard it. They are great fellows for nipping' 

 off the tail feathers of the larger parrots, and the hen had her 

 leg" almost bit in two by one of the Leadbeaters, but it is almost 

 as well as ever now. The cock got out and was gone for two 

 or three weeks, but we finally caught him in a bush about a 

 mile from home. He could fly all right, but allowed us to come 

 too close before he took wing. He could easily master the 

 ordinary black American crow while at liberty, I was told. 



The sunuuer before last 1 let out two Shell Parrakeets 

 and a pair of Cockateels. The Cockateels I never saw agaiii 

 but the vShell Parrakeets first came back every night. After. a 

 while they came back only occasionally. Later I found one and 

 then the other dead inside the aviary. They had apparentlv 

 eaten something that poisoned them, as they were in perfect 

 condition. T,ater the other two came back, and I shut theni 

 in. so I imagine these birds could be gixen their liberty after 

 they ^\ ere accustomed to being fed in a certain place, for a few 

 months in the spring. They are cHfficult to see in the trees and 

 flv almost like swallows. 



