Correspondence.



199



and the Bine Pies picked their bones. I at once returned the Blue Pies, there

being now no small Parrots left, and separated the Quakers. A few weeks later

they bit a hole in the wire netting and escaped. I recovered them, but they

again escaped. For a few days they flew all over the locality, but finally com¬

menced to build a nest in a pollard lime tree in front of the house. Here they

stayed for about six weeks until the end of April of last year, when they

removed to a large wistaria growing on the south side of the house and close to

small copper beech. They literally denuded the beech of its twigs, with which

they built a large nest about 30 inches long, two feet across, oval in shape, with

an opening about two thirds from the top. It was extraordinarily large inside

and was well constructed to withstand the rain, for it was neatly thatched, the

twigs lying parallel and vertical and overhanging the entrance. At what time

the hen bird commenced to lay, how long she incubated, or how many eggs there

were I cannot say, for I was away from home for about a month at this period and

was only informed that the male bird had been seen carrying food to the nest.

On my return I made an examination, and could feel that it was tenanted by a

young Parrot or perhaps more. This was about the end of the first week in June.

Another examination a fortnight later, when I took out another young Parrot,

perfectly white and covered with down. Had I not known what it was, I should

have imagined it to be a young Hawk or Owl. After this I made only one more

inspection of the nest, when I found the youngster much more grown, with the

green feather beginning to show in the wings. The appetite of the family was

now prodigious. The old birds came continually to feed into the little aviary,

through the hole which they had made in the wire. About the beginning

of July, the head of two young Parrakeets were to be seen continually in

the opening of the nest, but they made no effort to fly for some little

time, when they took to the wing and were escorted by the old birds down to

the aviary. Four days later a third youngster made its appearance and

finally, to my great delight, my wife discovered that the family consisted of

four, for she noticed the six sitting together in a beech tree, where she pointed

them out to me. They were continually to be heard in the wood, pai’k

and plantation, squeaking in a most lusty fashion and continually making me

believe that I was back once more in the tropics with the wild figs and

quondongs drawing their feathered host together. R. A. DYOTT.



MEALWORM BREEDING AND STICK INSECTS.


SIR, —I am writing these notes, which are of quite an elementary nature,

for the information of new aviculturists, remembering how helpful elementary

help was to me when I first began to keep birds on a large scale, and in fact still

is. One constantly sees enquiries about breeding mealworms. The bird expert

knows all about it and succeeds, the novice has not the necessary experience

and fails.


From my own experience I am inclined to think the failure to make a



