More Xotcs on Szcaiiison's Lorikeets. 231 



to a small aviary by themselves. Xothini;- su.i^g'estive of further 

 breeding' occurred until November 4th, when I found the hen 

 sitting on two e.^.^s. The aviary was an all-wire one. the 

 nest-box being the only shelter in the place, and I stroni^l}- 

 doubted the birds" ability to rear youn^" under these circum- 

 stances; it was getting very cold and I had \isions of frozen 

 milksop and starving young. Had I known what I now know 

 all would probably have gone well, Imt 1 decided to bring the 

 birds indoors, so the following night 1 crept into the aviary, 

 and clapping my liand over the entrance hole of the nest-box I 

 transported the two birds and their eggs to a very large cage 

 indoors. To my surprise the hen sat on for a few days, but 

 finally made a meal off the eggs, which were apparently hard-set. 



r)n Deceml^er 12th the nest-box contained another egg. 

 I discovered this fact owing to the appearance of the hen, who 

 was obviously egg-bound. She was promptly oiled, steamed, 

 and put into a very hot room, close to an anthracite stove, and 

 the egg was duly jiassed during the night. This egg I placed in 

 the nest-box with the other, but handling had probably upset 

 the hen and she made no attempt to sit. 



On January 15th, 1918, another egg was laid. I'he 

 second egg did not appear till the i8th — an interval of 3 days 

 (which is more or less constant). The hen sat steadily, and the 

 first and only chick appeared on February loth. This gives an 

 incubation period of 26 days from the laying of the first egg. 

 The youngster, when first hatched, was of the usual pink colour, 

 covered with yellow down. He only progressed slowly, and 

 disappeared after 10 days. On March loth the room in which 

 I kept the birds was required for other purposes, so I turned 

 the Lorikeets out again into the open aviary, and it was onlv 

 when I was hanging up their nest-box that I discovered it to 

 contain two eggs. Oddly enough, the hen sat on steadily, and 

 hatched out two chicks, one on April ist, and another on the 6th. 

 At this time I used to feed my l)irds on a somewhat com])licated 

 mixture of sponge cake with Alellin's food, honey, and 

 condensed milk, together with any available fruit such as 

 banana or orange. I also gave them, when rearing young, a 

 pot containing golden syrup diluted with an equal quantity of 



