GREEN PARROTS 193 



these courtships until I have felt humiliated at seeing 

 how closely the follies of mankind resembled those of 

 the brute creation. The only return the male made 

 to these antics was scratching the top of her head with 

 the point of his beak, and joining his bill to hers in a 

 loving kiss." 



Note that it is the hen that makes the advances. 

 There can be no mistake about this, for the presence of 

 the rose-coloured ring round the neck enables us to dis- 

 tinguish at a glance the cock from the hen. 



The more I see of birds the more convinced do I 

 become that, in the matter of selecting mates, the hens 

 do not have things all their own way. In monogamous 

 species the cock frequently chooses his spouse ; selection 

 is mutual. 



The nest is a cavity in a tree, and is thus described 

 by Hume : " The mouth of the hole, which is circular 

 and very neatly cut and, say, two inches on the average 

 in diameter, is sometimes in the trunk, sometimes in 

 some large bough, and not unfrequently in the lower 

 surface of the latter. It generally goes straight in for 

 two to four inches, and then turns downwards for from 

 six inches to three feet. The lower or chamber portion 

 of the hole is never less than four or five inches in 

 diameter, and is often a large natural hollow, three or 

 four times these dimensions, into which the bird has cut 

 its usual neat passage." 



My experience differs from that of Hume, inasmuch 

 as it tends to show that green parrots do not excavate 

 their own holes, or even the entrances to them. I sup- 

 pose I have seen over a hundred green parrots' nests, 

 o 



