THE PARADISE PARROT TRAGEDY 183 

 There were no termites in the mound when I opened 



it. , i ^ 



No further nests of the kingly Parrot have come 

 under notice, but from time to time, both before and 

 after the discovery of the historic nest, Mr. Jer- 

 rard's keenness has rewarded him with the sight of 

 one or two other families of the Paradise Parrots; 

 the quiet district, it would seem, is one of the few 

 and final refuges of the brilliant birds. Attention 

 was usually called to the Parrots by the short and 

 sharp but musical whistle uttered before taking 

 flight from the ground on the approach of danger. 

 Mr. Jerrard thinks that the old birds are constant 

 to one nesting locality, year after year, and that 

 some of the offspring subsequently nest in proximity 

 to the parental home. He has never seen one of the 

 Parrots more than a mile from the spot where he 

 first discovered them in 1921. 



The general observation recorded in the two pre- 

 ceding sentences suggests more than meets the eye. 

 It gives rise to a suspicion as to why the eggs in the 

 nest under review failed to hatch out. May not the 

 fact be that too close breeding, consequent upon the 

 extreme scarcity of these Parrots, impaired the fer- 

 tility of the eggs? This deduction appeals to me as 

 feasible, and it strengthens by what the observer 

 has to say, retrospectively, regarding the pretty per- 

 plexity of the birds at the non-appearance of their 

 expected family. Experience having taught Mr. 

 Jerrard, as it has taught others, that undue 

 familiarity may cause breeding birds to leave their 

 eggs, he waited until he was reasonably sure that 

 nestlings in the little hillock were well advanced. 



