206



Mr. Reginald Phillipps,



These birds are fed on canary, red- white- Indian- and

spray-millet, rice in the ear, soft food, lots of grit, sand, and

cuttle fish, plenty of lettuce and grass seed and the sweepings

of the hay-loft. Last year I reared, out of doors, two Green

Avadavats, three Orange-breasts and three Cordon Bletis. I

hope to turn them out later on, but they certainly do well enough

in a cage.


One thing I feel sure about, and that is, although all these

foreign birds may do all right and survive the cold out of doors

in England, they do not like it; and if I turned my South

American birds out, I would have a part heated in the aviary,

into which they could go at pleasure. I think it must feel rather

as it would to us, if we were put down suddenly in our ever}'

day clothes, say in Lapland, and were expected to keep warm

and comfy with no extra heat. After all, one should consider the

natural climate of these birds—moist heat; surely no frosts, or if

so, the>' are able to fly' farther south and avoid them. Here what

can they do to get away from the cold unless some place is made

for them. I have had mine in a large Conservatory, kept just

above freezing, and all this winter they have sung and seemingly

enjoyed life. I do not for one moment say they do not live in

the cold, as so many have kept them, I only say I am sure they

cannot prefer it.



THE BLACK-CHEEKED LOVEBIRD.


Agat>or?iis nigrigenis.


It may be of interest to some of our readers to know that

a small consignment of this little-known Lovebird reached the

London market this April. So far as I understand the matter,

there are, or were until quite recently, only two skins in exist¬

ence, bothofwhich are in South Africa. The bird was discovered

as recently as September, 1904, and is known only from two of

the northern tributaries of the Zambesi. The official description

of the species has been kindly supplied to me, and is as follows :—


Agapornis nigrigenis , W. L. Sclater.


B. O. C. XVI., p. 61 (1906).


General colour green, tinged with olive on the hinder half of the



