2l6 



one for the other— with this I cannot agree. I believe 

 that in Great Britain there are not more than a dozen 

 fully recorded instances of the actnal rearing of 3'oung, 

 though its Grey relative with some avicultnrists rears 

 its young freely. Though kept together all the year 

 round (and in separate pairs also), there appears to be 

 neither intercourse or affection (rather the reverse) 

 between the sexes, except during the period of nidi- 

 fication ; they also re-pair each season, the hen alone 

 incubates, she comes off for a few minutes only in the 

 morning (the eggs meanwhile being left uncovered) 

 during the remainder of the day the cock feeds her 

 on the nest. 



Though always in the pink of condition, they 

 never attempted to build with me till August 1905. I 

 have never seen the cock make play to the hen, as 

 nearly all species of birds do, but rather seems to 

 make himself disagreeable ; he hisses vigorously and 

 apparently swears considerably at his wife. Just be- 

 fore they commenced building I really became alarmed, 

 for they went at it " hammer and tongs " ; the hen had 

 patches of feathers pulled out and was bleeding in 

 several places on the head, she went crouching any- 

 where she could to get away from the violence and 

 persecution of her husband ; for more than a week 

 this went on, till I began to fear I should have to 

 separate them, though I was quite certain they were a 

 pair; but it was only nature, for all at once it ceased — 

 there was a calm. The hen began to build in a Ger- 

 man travelling cage, first covering the bottom with 

 tufts of grass, dried chickweed, &c., as a base, and then 

 at one end reared a substantial cup-shaped nest of fine 

 hay, as circular as if it had been turned in a lathe — 



