THE ZooLtocist—OctToBER, 1872. 3241 
blue head and shoulder, crimson dash on the wing, and bright 
orange breast. ‘They are almost mute, and very shy and retiring, 
continuing the greater part of the day in some quiet place,—under 
the roof, or behind a nest-box; in the evening they are more 
active, and continue so till nearly dark. They delight in running 
about the grass-turf of the aviary, feeding on the seed-stems; 
canary-seed is their regular food, and they are very fond of hemp- 
seed,—but care must be taken in giving them this, as they are apt 
to become very fat, and then on the least fright will often drop 
down dead. They breed very freely two or three times a-year, 
bringing out four or five young at a time. The hen alone performs 
the duties of incubation, and the cock is very attentive in feeding 
her during the time, and the young, also, when they are hatched ; 
the hen very rarely leaves the nest, and then only for a very short 
time in the evening. A nest of young birds, if disturbed, will make 
almost as much noise as a rookery; and this is almost the only 
lime in their lives when they utter a sound, as their usual note is 
almost inaudible. The young cocks can be distinguished when 
they are a few days old, by the crimson feathers appearing on their 
wings; the hens are devoid of these. 
With proper accommodation I believe that most of the Australian 
parrots would breed with us. Besides the above I have had eggs 
from rosellas, red-rumps, &c.; but, from some accident or other, 
failed to hatch them. Once | put a rosella’s egg under a tur- 
quoisine, and she brought out a young one; but I suppose its 
excessive ugliness frightened her, for she at once forsook it. 
Australian Crested Doves—The Australian crested doves 
(Ocyphaps lophotes) are most elegant inhabitants of an aviary, 
easily kept, readily bred, and very hardy. They will make their 
nest on any little shrub, and steadily sit and bring up their young, 
paying uo heed to passers-by and lookers-on. A curious fact 
connected with the young is, that they are fully fledged and leave 
the nest when they are not above one-third the size of the old 
ones; but they speedily grow, and are soon indistinguishable from 
them: I can discover no difference between cocks and hens. 
The various Anstralian finches, as diamond sparrows, fire 
finches, coral-beaks, cherry-cheeks, and a host of others, are 
pretty aviary birds, but, as a rule, are very short-lived. On being 
turned into the aviary, no matter what time of the year, their first 
employment seems to be to build a nest, and this they will do in a 
