i8o FEATHERED FRIENDS. 



self-assertive, and I might almost say quarrelsome and 

 aggressive; but when all has been said and done, he 

 is a very charming little creature, and the great difficulty 

 with regard to breeding is to secure a real pair, for 

 there is so little outward difference between the sexes, 

 that even the most experienced fancier, professional or 

 amateur, is apt to make a mistake. In the case of the 

 Red-faced Love-bird, the male can be readily distinguished, 

 not by the extent or depth of colour on his face, which 

 is a sign of age, and not a differentiating mark of sex, 

 but by the deep black hue of his under wing-coverts, those 

 of the hen, at any age, being yellowish green. It may 

 be that the same distinguishing feature exists in the 

 case of the Peach-face, but if so I am not aware of it. 

 The bill of the latter is greenish white in colour : that 

 of the Red-face, on the contrary, is orange. 



My "pair," for which I paid a long price, for they 

 were much dearer then than they are now, turned out 

 to be two hens, and yet they used to feed each other, 

 and act so that I believed them to be male and female. 

 They made a nest, for these curious dwarf Parrots 

 really do make a comfortable nest for the reception of 

 their eggs and young 'ones, in a hole of some kind, it 

 is true, and that in the funniest way. 



When the hen has decided upon a suitable site for 

 her future dwelling, she goes to some tree with soft 

 bark that will strip off easily, such as a willow, and 

 with her powerful mandibles will peel away several 



