On the Breeding of the Black-cheeked Lovebird. 31


BREEDING OF THE BLACK-CHEEKED LOVEBIRD.


Agapornis ?iigrige?iis.


By Reginald Phillipps.


( Co7icluded from page 329, Vol. VI.)


When I, for the second time, peeped into the log, just a

month later (July 23), I found that the nest had been covered over ,

only a little slit at the extreme back of the roof having been left

open, barely large enough, not large enough one might have

supposed, to allow of the passage of the birds to and fro. Four

eggs were laid, presumably on June 20, 22, 24, 26; thus the

complete roofing in of the nest, and the blocking up of the

side aperture, would appear to have synchronized with the laying

of the fourth egg. On and from the 20th, the female had been

sitting so far as her house-building labours had allowed her to,

but, on the 26th, was not seen at all—she had commenced to sit

in earnest: we now see why she was so anxious to have her work

finished off by the 26th.


How was the roof supported ? The roof was just below the

level of the top of the log—nothing at that time had been placed

across the top: all the support was from below. Doubtless,

upright sticks, like those already mentioned, acted like pillars

and kept it from falling in. But the work must have been per¬

formed with quite remarkable cleverness for, up to the very last,

it was perfectly intact, and never once betrayed the slightest sign

of weakness.


The female pretty frequently carried in additional material,

but it was used in keeping the aperture small; for the climbing

of the birds, especially of the nestlings, up and down, tended to

enlarge the aperture ; and the duty of keeping this hole as small

as possible, unquestionably for the purpose of hiding the treasures

within, was faithfully attended to so long as a single nestling

remained to be concealed— and after ! ! I When I last saw the

nest, the aperture was barely large enough to allow of the

entrance of a mouse ; the thickness of the roof, too, had been

increased—for Mine. Nigrigenis had ulterior motives. There

were one or two “pillars” near the entrance hole; and one day

I found a sparsedly feathered nestling on the roof, who, boy-like,



