Mr. R. Phii.upps,



150



which the Black Cheeks go to nest in almost any receptacle that

may come in their way. O11 looking back, I find that, at that

time, I had Choughs, various foreign Jays and Pies, and also

Parrakeets and Lorikeets both large and small; and a goodly

number of these would have been able to raid any ordinary

nesting place. Can any influences of a similar nature prevail in

the regions frequented by the Rosy Faces which do not press

with equal force upon the wild Black Cheeks? Or is it simply

that the latter, with their advanced intelligence and superior

architectural genius and ability, while retaining so much of their

old ways as was good—to wit, the bark peeling—have burst

asunder and cast to the winds the ancient and worn-out shackles

of tradition and superstition which fettered their forefathers—the

necessity for carrying materials amongst their feathers (so as to

leave the beak free for climbing, ib., p. 132) with all the limitations

which that custom involved—and now extend their bark nipping

to twig cutting, and carry sticks, of necessity in the beak, with

which they keep the bark strips in position, construct a dome to

cover the nest proper, and thus make a really serviceable nest,

and both hide and protect their eggs and young? As I pointed

out before ( ib ., p. J31), it is not possible for a domed nest to be

builded with such limp stuff as chawed bark (the Black Cheeks

do not hold with chawing the bark too much); it does very well

for filling up the bottom of a more or less perpendicular shaft of

small diameter, but, under other conditions, is inadequate and

insufficient; and, when the cavity is large, the time occupied by

the female in carrying enough to form a heap is serious (ib. t

p. 132).


It is well known that, when in a small place, the Rosy-faced

female will carry (in her beak) sticks and almost anything to her

nest-hole ; but, as far as n^ experience goes, when she has access

to living trees, she will never carry any single thing but bark,

and that, not in her beak, but hooked on to the feathers of the

lower back and upper tail-coverts.


How different is the behaviour of my Black-cheeked Love¬

birds! They carry, indeed, a sufficiency of bark to enable them

to form a splendid little nest, snug and comfortable—but their

forte is not bark- but cut ting and stick- carrying. With them



