THE



Hvtcultural flfoacjastne,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


A V1CULTURAL SOCIETY.



NO. 11.



SEPTEMBER, 1895.



OUR BIRDS.


V.


AN AVIARY I DYLL-

By C. S. Simpson.


There was discord in the hitherto peaceful aviary : a pair of Green

Conures had just been introduced, and the new comers flew violently hither

and thither, furiously attacking the original inhabitants and shrieking

at the top of their peculiarly discordant voices. The other birds, terrified

by the sudden onset of the attack, fluttered helplessly against the wires or

crouched upon the floor uttering piteous cries for help. But aid was at

hand, a net was brought, and the Conures were captured and confined afresh

in their old cage.


The frightened birds emerged from the holes and corners to which

they had fled, they smoothed their ruffled feathers, and peace reigned once

more.


The Ornate Lorikeet had hitherto been master in the aviary: true, he

allowed the Pennant, the Crimson-wing and the other Parrakeets to occupy

the less eligible perches and to approach the food vessels after he had

satisfied himself, but his supremacy had never before been disputed, and Ills

self-importance, which was great, had received a rude shock.


The cage containing the Green Conures was left in the aviary, and the

new birds at once became objects of the deepest interest to the Lorikeet.

With his head on one side he would sit for hours on a branch close to the cage

watching them attentively, and only leaving his perch from time to time to

chase some impertinent bird from the food vessels. Finally, he fell deeply

in love with the hen. What could he see in her to admire ? The Green

Conure is an obtrusively vulgar bird, noisy beyond all other Parrakeets,

greedy and quarrelsome. Nevertheless, Ornatus loved her and fed her with

bread and milk through the wires, regardless of many a spiteful nip from

her irate husband.


When the cage was taken from the aviary he darted out after it, and

at night he roosted on the ring at the top.


But the Green Conures were unpopular with the household in which

tlie} T resided, their screams were unendurable, and before very long they

were given away, and the bird-room once more became comparatively quiet.

The Ornate Lorikeet was not distracted with grief, his appetite remained

extremely good, and to all appearances he forgot his love the instant she

was out of sight.


Now Trichogloss us ornatus is the mountebank of parrakeets : his

tightly fitting many-coloured raiment, and his quaint and rapid antics

among the boughs of the aviary, Irresistibly call to mind the gentleman in

tights and spangles who thrills the circus with his performance on the tight

rope or the trapeze. Moreover, his disposition is very amorous, but being

a rare bird it is not alwaj^s easy to provide him with a mate of his own

species.



