9i



on the Regent Bird.



they were up and down in a manner I failed to account for, and

occasionally the younger displayed very serious symptoms. On

September 7 it suddenly collapsed and signs of poison seemed to

be unmistakable, and I could think of nothing but of some sleepy

cockroaches. The malady yielded to treatment, and by the 9th

the bird was getting on well. But on that day I had to go out,

heavy and continuous rain came on, and when I brought it in—

for the mother had taken it into the garden—the violent diarrhoea

and laboured breathing had returned, and it passed away during

the night of September 10—11.


About this time I noticed that the survivor was refusing

food ; the mother would hover about it with her daintiest morsels

and endeavour to induce it to open its mouth, but without avail.

During the 13th it was most seriously ill, and the effects of what

little medicine I could give were neutralised by its insistence in

remaining in the garden in the cold and wet. On the 14th it

was worse but I could not keep it in the birdroom ; by midday

however it had so far collapsed as to be unable to fly. This time

I resolved there should be no half measures, so I took it away

entirely and placed it in a cage in my dining-room. That there

was poison somewhere was unquestionable, and I knew it was

not cockroaches this time. Suddenly the truth flashed across

my mind. In the garden there were a common and two golden

elder trees, and the foliage of the latter being very thick the

young Regents had passed much of their time amongst their

branches. It was their custom to nibble at every leaf within

their reach; elder leaves I learn set up a purgative action ; this

had started and kept up the mischief which the cold and wet had

aggravated. The old Regents, I suspect, had learnt from ex¬

perience that these leaves should be avoided ; but I lost several

little finches which drank from some water-dishes into which the

leaves were continuously falling.


Laudanum, brandy and lime water, bovril, and the shelter

and comfort of its new quarters, saved the young Regent, and in

two or three days it had fairly recovered. I had to hand-feed it

a little, but it soon took to its food, and on and from the 17th it

wholly dispensed with my help and was getting on well. On the

21st I found it aping the adult and “ yar-ring ” and going through



