114 Birds I Have Kept. 



in an out-door aviary, these birds have two or three broods 

 in the year, but if their abode is heated during the cold 

 weather, they will continue to breed all the year round like 

 Pigeons. The male assists in the onerous task of incubation, 

 sitting all day; he is also the chief caterer for the young, 

 and sometimes is so absorbed by his care for his children, 

 that he forgets to feed himself, and grows quite weak and 

 thin. 



A male Cockateel now in my possession was so neglectful 

 of himself that he shrank down to nearly half his former 

 size, and became so feeble that he could scarcely fly; while 

 his partner took things very quietly, leaving her nest soon 

 after daybreak, and absolutely refusing to return to it until 

 dusk, though her poor husband frequently left the eggs for 

 a minute or two in the afternoon in order to try and persuade 

 her to resume her duties, but in vain; when finding that it 

 was impossible to awaken her to a proper sense of her re- 

 sponsibilities, he sorrowfully returned to the nest, fearing no 

 doubt that if he stayed away any longer the precious eggs 

 would take cold; and so matters went on until, as I have 

 said, he became so weak that, in order to save his life, I 

 had to interfere, and take away the nest, when he soon 

 recovered. 



The Cockateel has received a number of scientific names, 

 among others Colopsitha Novce Hollandi^, Psittacus Nova 

 Holland ice, Leptolophus auricomis, Ni/m2)hanis Novce Holland icB, 

 which last is, perhaps, that most frequently applied to it in 

 books. The Germans call it der Kymfensittich, or Korella, 

 and the French la Perruche Calopsitte. 



In its wild state this bird makes its nest in a hollow 

 branch of a tree, and in the house will make use of a small 

 box, or hollow log, or a hole in the wall; incubation lasts 

 for about eighteen days, and in fine weather the young fledge 

 rapidly: they are able to feed themselves, at least partially, 

 almost as soon as they leave the nest, to which it is very 



