on the Breeding of the African White-Eye. 277


On May 12fch No. 1 was hopping freely about from twig to

twig and getting all the tit-bits from his fond parents, but No. 2 was

neither forgotten nor neglected and continued to grow apace, and to

my chagrin I noticed that restless look in his eye.


May 13th was the worst day we have had for months. It

rained incessantly for 36 hours, i.e. from May 12th to May 14th.

I dare not go near the aviary, fearing lest I should disturb the

young birds and make them forsake a sheltered position for an

exposed one. However, the rain stopped on Friday, the 14th, and

I had a good search for my young friends. No. 1 was easily found

and was certainly ‘ going strong,” and I noticed that for the first

time he didn’t wait to be fed, but took it from the old birds, i.e. he

pecked at it, and I take it that this was the first step towards

catering for himself. The young at this time is quite unlike the

parents, with a large gape which is apparently carried down as two

yellow moustachial streaks down each side of the neck, giving it a

very clown-like appearance. There is none of the roundness and

nattiness about the young that one finds in the parents, and of course

no white palpebral ring. The tail is quite short, fan-shaped, and

looks like a series of short paint brushes stuck in the hind part.


As to Zosterops No. 2 I could find no trace of it, though

once or twice I imagined the parents went to feed it. At any rate,

I never saw a sign of the little bird again and I fear it must pass

out of the picture for good and all.


On May 15th our young Zosterops first assumed the hanging

posture so peculiar to the Tits and other insectivorous birds. This

was evidently the next step in hunting for its prey. The hen bird

was still mothering her first love and it was a charming sight to see

her protecting her infant, now nearly full-grown, under the shadow

of her outstretched wing.


By May 16th the young one was flying freely from tree to

tree and I noticed that he deliberately preened each of his feathers,

particularly the primaries and tail-feathers, himself ; obviously he

was equipping himself for the adventures of life. The old cock bird

began to drive the hen to nest again and to construct a new nest

in an Evangeline rose.


On May 17th I thought I could detect a very faint trace of a



