3°



I may mention here that there are two nest-boxes at the

hen’s disposal, so it is not for the want of nesting accommodation

that the cock acts as he does towards his offspring. He was, of

course, caged up again, and the hen left to nurse and look after

her two sons : and they really wanted all the care she could

bestow upon them. They made fine progress ; but'more trouble

was in store for them, for within a week the hen laid again. We

were then with tw 7 o young birds scarcely able to nibble seed or

even green food ; and the mother laying without the cock—taken

away a week previously. What w r as to be done ? I did not want

her to lay and sit on unfertile eggs, as it was more than probable

they would be, the cock having been removed before she w 7 as in

laying condition ; and on the other hand, I did not care to

sacrifice (“ bird in the hand ” proverb again) the two young

cocks for eggs that might not hatch. However, as the hen was

continually uttering her “ pairing-cry,” and the cock answering

with his pretty little song, never so frequently heard as in the

breeding season, I determined to take the two young ones away,

and assist them as much as I could in feeding themselves—by

giving them plenty of chickweed in seed, tender to nibble with

their slender beaks, and bruising their seed a little—and to put

the cock back with his mate again. She had then laid two eggs,

which I marked ; stopped laying for two or three days; then laid

three more, and commenced sitting. With the above food the

two young cocks did very well, and in a week w r ere quite saved.

The five eggs the hen was incubating gave the following result—

Two (those marked) clear, and the other three all hatched. The

young are just now about to leave the nest, and are one cock aud

two hens.


The object of these few notes is to mention the fertilizing

of Parrakeecs’ eggs : to induce amateurs to give the eggs a trial

should they ever be placed in the same position as I w y as, and

not throw them aw r ay immediately^ as “sure to be barren,” just

because the cock was not with the hen till the last moment before

she commenced laying. I believe there is a great difference

between the fertilizing of Parrakeets’ eggs and Fowls’ eggs.

On this subject one well known writer says: “The pairings of

Parrakeets are repeated and long, frequent pairings being

necessary to fertilize the eggs ; quite the opposite to fowls,

where the cock, in one operation, fertilizes a whole batch of

eggs.” With these remarks, from a reliable source, in mind, I

was rather doubtful of the fertility of the two or three last

eggs of the first clutch of five mentioned ; but it is evident the

necessary amount of pairing had taken place, for all hatched.



