Tlic Excellent Szvainsoii's Lorikeet. 177 



be so anxious to rear a second family that he began punching 

 the young ones about ten days after they left the nest. The 

 nest, by the way, is a roomy barrel with a little sawdust at the 

 Ijottom. They were therefore removed from his society and 

 proved to be quite well able to look after themselves. A few 

 days later the lady began to lay again, and the second brood is 

 doubtless now on the way. I say doubtless, because they never 

 disappoint us (Touch wood! ). No special food need be given 

 during the breeding time. They just carry on. 



Perhaps I may remind the reader that a lady aviculturist. 

 Miss Rosa Little, succeeded in breeding the Swainson's Lorikeet 

 in an aviary cage with a f^oor area. I think, of less than four 

 feet. I should not myself care to keep such a bird in a cage, 

 even a big one. but in an aviary they are not dirty. 1 ought 

 to add that they are quite hardy, living in an un-heated aviary all 

 the year round, and show no signs of distress even in the coldest 

 or dampest weather. No doubt they are helped in this because 

 of their comfortable and sensible habit of snuggling into a 

 nest-box at night. 



My first Swainson's Lorikeet was a very fine bird which 

 I bought through an advertisement by a member in this 

 Magazine. It was described as a beauty, and so it was. Also, 

 it was thought to be a cock — which it was not. It was a fine 

 large bird and I looked about for a hen. A member kindly 

 supplied one. and we put the birds together. This so disgusted 

 my first acquisition that he, by which I mean she, laid an egg 

 that night to indicate that we had made a slight mistake. After 

 that we called her " Mrs. Sainson '" and as soon as we found 

 a proper mate for her — my present Archibald — she went to nest. 

 She was a delightful creature, and took joy in having tea with 

 us and sitting on the ladies' heads. Archibald, however, 

 changed her character for the worse ; she was never quite so 

 tame after he came. After two years we had the misfortune 

 to lose her through a growth round the beak which proved to 

 be intractable. We then found another wife for Archibald, but 

 she is a somewhat smaller bird than our original hen. I 

 mention this as a note that the sexes are somewhat difiicult to 

 distinguish. I think, however, that the hen has usually a 



