214 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



over the tops of the trees, apparently for fun or exer- 

 cise, now settling for a moment, then off again, whirl- 

 ing round and round, and all the time whistling at the 

 top of their voices." 



According to Dr. Platen (cf. Russ' " Handbuch fiir 

 Vogelliebhaber," p. 227) : " In the vicinity of a stream 

 in Sarawak flights of from 3 to 8 head ; breeding-s«ason 

 February to May ; nest always in hollows in the highest 

 and most decayed trees; laying 2-3 eggs." 



One of the early descriptions and figures of this species 

 was taken by >Shaw from a specimen belonging to Lady 

 Bead, which had 'been kept in a cage in London for 

 nine years. Dr. Russ received a male in 1877 from 

 Jlessrs. Alpi, of Trieste, and he tells us later that he 

 had two specimens, one of which lived for two years, 

 tlie other died speedily. In 1878 Mr. Wiener sent an 

 example to Berlin to be exhibited, and later Mr. Abra- 

 hams received several specimens. 



The London Zoological Society purchased it first in 

 1866 ; a second example was added the year following, 

 and two in 1874. One in the Berlin Zoological Gardens 

 lived for three years, and Dr. Russ seems to think that 

 the species cannot be expected to live longer in cap- 

 tivity, in spite of Lady Bead's experience. 'Now I 

 should put down the early death of the German birds 

 to the egg-food and boiled rice, wliich I feel sure they 

 would have been better without. 



The Love-birds {Agapornis) are distinguished bv their 

 short rounded tails, with a subterminal black band and 

 the absence of a central ridge lalong the middle of the 

 underside of the lower mandible. As a rule, thcv do 

 well upon canary, millet, and oats, but the larger species 

 may have a little hemp occasionally ; chickweed, ground- 

 eel, and flowering grass may aLso be given when ob- 

 tainable, and banana should be offered. They do not 

 care for fruit in captivity as a rule, but tTiey certainly 

 feed upon it when wild. 



Mad.\gasc.\r oe Geey-headkd Lovebird [Agniyornis 

 cana). 



The principal colour is bright but deep green, but 

 the head ajid breast of the cock bird are of a silvery 

 greyish colour ; rump and upper taU-ooverts brighter 

 green; flights dull black, with green outer webs; tail 

 with a broad subterminal black band, the lateral 

 feathers vellowish at base; lower breast, abdomen, and 

 under tajl-coverts yellowish-green ; under wing-coverts 

 black; edge of wing whitish; beak and feet whitish- 

 grey ; irides brown. Female practically of a uniform 

 i;reen colour, the grey of head and breast being absent ; 

 her beak is also slightly broader tlian in the male. 

 Hab. , Madagascar ; introduced into Mauritius, 

 Reunion, Rodriquez, Anjuan, and perhaps ilafia, south 

 of Zanziter. 



The Rev. J. Sibree, jun., writing on the " Birds of 

 Madagascar" (The Ibis, 1891, p. 217). says that this 

 ■' is a lively and brightly-coloured little bird, and is 

 found in considerable numbers, in the outskirts of the 

 woods and near the cultivated districts, all over the 

 island. They go in large flocks, often of as many as 

 a hundred together, and sometimes do considerable 

 damage to the rice crops. They are, however, very 

 excellent eating, and are often snared with a kind of 

 bird-lime." " The two .sexes of this Parrakeet show 

 gi-eat affection for each other, the pair sitting close 

 together on their perch, from which habit they are 

 often called Love-birds (Affapornis). 



" One of the native names of this Parrakeet, Karanlca, 

 is probably descriptive of its cry ; while another, 

 Masesy, mea-ns ' degenerated,' or ' become small," appar- 



ently because it is considered a dwarf species of ParroJ,. 

 This idea also appears in the latter portion of their 

 Hova name Sdricuzo or Sarivaza, Yaza being a name 

 for the two Parrots also, and probably is identical with 

 the root vazo, 'loud-voiced,' 'clamorous.'" 



Writing of the C'omoro Islands (" Three Voyages of 

 a Naturalist," p. 87), Mr. M. J. NicoU says:— "The 

 grey-headed Love-bird is not uncommon on the culti- 

 vated land 'near the seashore," and at p. 98 he says:^ 

 " They were always in pairs, and their flight was won- 

 derfully i-apid." 



According to the late Mr. Wiener and others who 

 have bred this species, it lines its nesting-hole with 

 shavings of bark or thin splinters of wood, which it 

 carries to the nest stuck between the upper tail-coverts, 

 but iMr. Seth-Smith says " sometimes in their beaks, a 

 mode of conveyance that is probably never adopted in 

 a natural state, in which the material, consisting of 

 pliant strips of green hark, is carried under the feathers 

 of the lower back." My own first pair of this species 

 built in a log and carried all the material in their beaks, 

 but the hen never laid in the nest, but dropped her 

 eggs all over the place. 



Ju?t when the cock bird was at its best, at the ccm- 



Mad.vgascar Love-Bird. 

 {Uead of Male.) 



mencement of the winter of 1891-92, it must have 

 rendered it.'^elf objectionable to my Rosella Parrakeet, 

 which promptly killed it ; it was a very jealous and 

 irritable little bird, always ready to attack any bird, 

 however large, which showed an interest in its wife. 

 After its death the latter and the Rosella were on 

 e-xcellent terms. She spent much of her time in a log- 

 nest, and he used to look down at her through the 

 entrance hole until .«he saw fit to take an airing, when 

 he followed her about from one part of the aviary to 

 another, only varying this occupation by hunting the 

 Budgerigars under the mistaken notion that he could 

 catch them. 



A male which I had subsequently was so aggressive 

 that I was glad to exchange it for something more 

 amiable. 



The Madagascar Love-bird is very spiteful towards 

 any weaker species associated with it (and this seems 

 to be true of Love-birds generallv) ; I had two hens 

 sent to me many years after I had lost my first i>air, 

 and finding that they seemed very anxious to breed, I 

 turned them into a section of my toy-aviary (an orna- 

 mental thing to stand on the floor of a conservatory) 

 along with a male Blue-winged Parrotlet ; unfortunately 

 he took a fancy to the weaker hen and neglected the 

 stronger one; and eventually, in a fit of jealousy, she 



