130 Breeding of the African Grey Parrot in Captivity.


notice very soon that the parents were not attending properly to

the youngest chick ; they visibly neglected it and even some¬

times pushed it quite away from them into a corner by itself. It

died when about a fortnight old, and I then found its legs and

feet were very much deformed and twisted. I do not know if

this was the reason its parents turned against it, but I thought it

most unnatural and wicked of them.


About the middle of December, not earlier, the young birds

began to come out to the edge of their nest barrel, and were quite

tame and nice with me, readily taking food from my hand. They

now come right out, and try to go all over their aviary, but when

I see they look tired I catch them in a strong cloth (their beaks

are already pretty powerful), and put them back in their nest.


It is, I suppose, too soon to judge with certainty, but they

look like a male and female, one having a much smaller hen-like

head than the other. Their eyes are almost black, at least, very

dark slaty. They are very strong and healthy, in fact, in splendid

condition. These parrots occupy a small aviary to themselves,

but during the day the door generally stands open, and they,

like all my other parrots, have been accustomed to go about the

garden and grounds for hours. I cut a few feathers in one wing

every two months and they seldom stray far. During the time of

incubation the hen bird never came outside the aviary and the

male bird very seldom.


They nested in a small barrel fixed on its side inside a box,

open in front and high up in one corner of the aviary. They had

been accustomed to sleep in this barrel before they adopted it as a

nest box. I had put a good thick layer of sawdust in the bottom

and before laying the hen covered this with soft down which she

took from her breast. In front of the barrel runs a strong perch

which goes right across the aviary, so that the birds step right

out of it without trouble.


I am afraid I am writing at too great length, but sincerely

hope some of my fellow aviculturists will be interested to know

that Grey Parrots really can be successfully bred in confinement.



