Jan.,1 

 1916 J 



Keartland, A Study of Birds at Breeding Time. 135 



an examination of the nest and eggs has generally revealed 

 that the hollow selected has been surprisingly small. This 

 puzzled me for some time, but since I have tried to breed them 

 in an aviary I think the problem is solved. Some years ago 

 I had a pair of Cockatoo-Parrots which reared three broods 

 of young ones in the season. Their nesting log was a small 

 one which I had intended to use for Warbling Grass-Parrakeets, 

 Melopsittacus undulatus. Next season I thought I would 

 provide better quarters for them, and changed the log for one 

 much larger. The female laid several clutches of eggs, but 

 reared no young ones, as the eggs were all destroyed before 

 incubation was completed, and each shell found on the floor 

 of the aviary had a large hole broken in its side. I blamed the 

 mice for the mischief. I next tried to breed the Green-Leek, 

 Polytelis barrabandi, and the female laid five eggs in a box 

 nest, but they were soon all destroyed one after another. 

 Again the mice were blamed, as each shell had a hole bitten in 

 the side. My little Warbling Grass-Parrakeets were provided with 

 a small hollow log, and reared sixteen young ones in the season. 



Last September I built a large aviary and determined to try 

 the Green-Leeks again. The birds mated, and in due time 

 four eggs were laid in a large nest. The female sat from the 

 time the first egg was laid, and the male fed her whilst she 

 was on the nest, but she attacked him viciously whenever he 

 tried to get behind her. Soon afterwards an empty egg-shell 

 was found on the floor of the aviary, and in less than a week 

 all were broken, the male bird being caught in flagrante delicto. 

 This habit of the female sitting from the time the first egg is 

 laid no doubt is responsible for the fact that the brood of 

 young ones vary greatly in size. Whilst some small ones are 

 only clothed in pin feathers, others are fully fledged and able 

 to fly. It also accounts for the error some authors have fallen 

 into in stating that, on attaining full plumage, there is no 

 difference in the appearance of the sexes in the Green-Leek. 

 Another fact came under my notice whilst on a collecting tour 

 some time ago. I saw several flocks of both Green-Leeks and 

 Red-rumped Grass-Parrakeets, consisting of from twenty to 

 thirty birds, without a solitary female amongst them. The 

 conclusion I came to was that all the females were occupied 

 with family cares, and that after the males had fed their mates 

 they had a bachelors' excursion on their own account. 



Our wild ducks are very interesting to watch. When the 

 female has built her nest amongst the rushes on a swamp or 

 selected the hollow branch of a large tree she lines it with 

 down plucked from her own breast, so that when she feels 

 inclined to stay for a long swim on a pool or stream she can 

 cover up the eggs and keep them warm for a long time. An 

 examination of the down will often determine the species to 



