10 The Breeding of Gang-gang Cockatoos with Mme. Lecallier


the first egg. On the 6th I saw the second egg, and this was the last

laid. The birds took no notice of me looking into their nest whatever.

During incubation, when the hen came off to feed, the cock took her

place. One strange thing I noticed was that the hen always came off

in the afternoons, when the cock would take her place ; she would be

off from one and a half to two hours.


The first egg hatched on 4th July ; this young one died next day.

I removed this and now have it preserved in alcohol. When removing

the dead chick I saw that the second egg was about to hatch, and it

hatched out on the 6th. The young were covered with a rusty red

down. Eight days after I again looked into the nest and could see

that the young one had grown and was being well attended to. They

were left quiet, and I did not look again until the young one was a

month old, as I could hear it in the nest. On looking again at one month

I could see that the young one was covered with feather-stubs of a

grey-blue colour, those on the wings, tail and chest being longer than

those on the body. At six weeks 1 could see that it was a cock bird,

as the colour commenced to show on the crest. After this he gained

feather very quickly, and during the eleventh week I saw him looking

out of the nest. On the morning of 4th September I found the young

bird sitting on the dead pear-tree, and was pleased to see a fine strong

bird, and in no way wild for a young one. He resembled the hen-bird

in form and colour, but he had a red crest, but not so bright as the

old bird, with only a few red feathers on the cheeks, and also a dark

streak each side of the beak. The young bird could fly well, and could

often be seen at the feeding tray with the old ones. If a stranger entered

the aviary the hen would commence to cry loudly, and the cock would

fly to the young one, as if to guard it from danger. During October

I caught the young one up and placed it in the larger bird room, where

it is doing well.


I am curious to see at what age the Gang-gang Cockatoo obtains

the complete scarlet helmet. I find the Gang-gang hardy, and in no

way affected by the cold, as long as they have a good dry shelter to go

into. Their food is sunflower, Avheat, oats, hemp, and canary-seed,

white boiled maize, bread and milk, and a little pear or apple. The

Gang-gang is a very interesting bird when in a large aviary. Their



