Further Notes on the Black-cheeked Lovebird. 149


Doubtless, before long, however, other members will breed this

Lovebird, and it will become possible to compare and check

conclusions.


For, thanks (or very much otherwise) to the energy and

enterprise of the Germans, who in this as in so many other

matters put 11s to shame—will the bragging Briton never burst

through his chrysalis covering of conceited self-complacency and

wake up!—the Black-cheeked Lovebird is now common and a

drug in the market: that is, the British markets have been

flooded by the overflows from Germany, with the “ leavings” of

the foreigners—What a proof of our greatness ! How proud we

should be !


But, to business.


As regards the sex of the Black-cheeked Lovebird, I sup¬

pose it may be taken as accepted that the iris of the male is of a

lighter colour, a more yellow brown, than that of the female. I

find (see below) that the dark iris of a female squatting on her

eggs at the bottom of a log does not catch the eye as the lighter

iris of the male might do. I am still under the impression that

the colour of the under wing-coverts of fully adult examples

differ; those who keep their birds in cages, and can examine

them at will, may readi^ decide that point.


My Black Cheeks were admitted into the reserved garden

aviary in the autumn, and revelled amongst the living foliage.

There has been a great deal of bark nipping; but not a single

instance of an attempt at inserting strips amongst the feathers

has come under my notice; they are enthusiastic carriers of

materials for nesting and fortification-building purposes, but all

are carried in the beak.


How are we to account for this notable difference, and

other differences, between the nesting habits of A. roseicollis and

those of A. nigrigenis ?


Any one reading the rather detailed account of the nesting

of the former that I gave in July, 1896(0.8. II., 130-2) can hardly

fail to be struck with the difficulty those birds experienced in

finding a nesting-site which they considered to be safe and suit¬

able (“ artificial nesting places of every kind—logs, barrels, cocoa-

nut husks—all were ignored”) compared with the readiness with



