i6o Dr. A. G. Butler,


Pigeons (Leucosarcia fiicata) and turned them into my larger

garden aviary with a pair of Phaps chalcoptei'a and my Indian and

English Blackbirds, which had already spent a year in the same

aviary. With the approach of mild weather the new inmates

built a nest above the portico at the entrance to the aviar}'',

paired, but did not lay ; later they built a nest on the branch of

a fir in the aviary, paired frequently, but again without result.


I received an impertinent anonymous letter complaining of

the song of the cock-bird, and requesting me to wring its neck or

get my son to poison it ; incidentally I heard that all my

neighbours regarded the bird as a nuisance ; so, when month after

month passed without an egg being laid, I eventually decided to

remove the Wonga-Wougas to my bird-room. No sooner was the

removal accomplished than the hen began to lay on a platform of

branches at the back of the aviary, her eggs dropping between

the branches and smashing on the ground. I added much fresh

material, to render it impossible for eggs to fall through, but the

stupid creatures set to work and re-arranged the spot selected as

a nest, so that some eggs fell among the twigs below and were

bruised or cracked, while others again fell to the ground ; then

in November the hen suddenly deserted the nest, began to mope

in corners, and died on the morning of the 22nd ; I sent off the

cock on the 27th in exchange for other birds which I hope may

yield more satisfaction.


In my toy-aviary in the conservatory (which I hardly

regard as an aviary at all) I had—at the commencement of the

year—at one end two hen Madagascar Love-birds and a cock

Passerine Parrotlet ; from jealousy the strong Madagascar bird

killed and gnawed away half the skull of the weaker one, and

then made advances to the Blue-winged bird ; but, though

months were spent in coquetting, nothing resulted as compensa¬

tion for the murder. At the opposite end I had a pair of Yellow¬

billed Cardinals, both strong and healthy; they were very

friendly but showed no inclination to breed; and, about

September I think, the hen unexpectedly died in the night and I

sent her to the Natural History Museum. I fancy she must have

had a night scare and cracked her skull. In the centre division,

which measures about three feet square and is perhaps seven feet



