158 FEATHERED FRIENDS. 



I turned the feather-picker into the aviary along- 

 with some Cockateels and a hen Ring-necked Parrakeet, 

 with the latter of which he at once struck up a lasting 

 friendship, or perhaps I should say that he fell in love 

 with her at first sight, for she was a very handsome 

 bird and was in splendid condition ; but she would not 

 take any notice of the "Vulture," who soon began to 

 feel ashamed of himself, and allowed his feathers to 

 grow, so that in three months, or thereabouts, from the 

 date of his arrival he had regained his natural handsome 

 appearance and then he and the Ring-neck made a 

 match of it, though not without a good deal of coy 

 resistance on the lady's part at first. 



They took possession of a suitable barrel and before 

 long I could see that the hen had laid, but how many 

 eggs she had it was impossible to guess, for I did not 

 like to disturb her; one day, however, I caught her 

 off her nest, and took advantage of her absence to peep 

 into the barrel, then suspended in its proper way on 

 the side, and in it I saw four white eggs, exactly 

 resembling those that had been laid by the other hen 

 I have mentioned as having killed her chicks. These 

 eggs the bird sat on for the usual time, when they 

 were thrown out of the barrel, and on examination I 

 found that they were all clear. 



After an interval the Ring-neck laid four more eggs^ 

 but the result was the same, although the Crimson- 

 wing was most attentive to her in every respect; nor 



