COGKATIEL. 37 



dead, flying out of window, and returning at the word of command; 

 and he will also learn to repeat, with great distinctness, not only words, 

 but short sentences, and even to imitate, in a disconnected and rambling 

 fashion it is true, the chattering of his compatriot the Budgerigar, or 

 the warbling of his rival the Canary. It is no use taking the trouble 

 to bring up a hen Cockatiel by hand, for she is not intellectual, which 

 is, no doubt, her misfortune, and never learns any thing; at least such 

 is our experience of her, and we would not willingly say so of any 

 person of her sex, had we not proved the truth of our assertion in 

 several instances : we cannot even say that she is an exemplary mother, 

 for we have never found her so; on the contrary, she seems to think 

 that when she has laid her eggs, sat on them in the dark, and nursed 

 the young ones during the first three or four days of their existence, 

 she has done all that can possibly be demanded of her: and perhaps, 

 after all, she is not so far wrong, for the more people do, the more 

 is expected from them, and if her husband is satisfied, who else has any 

 right to complain? 



That he is satisfied with his wife, poor fellow, is very evident, not 

 only by the care he bestows upon their offspring, but by the fuss he 

 makes about the lady herself when she is not very well, and the care 

 with which he combs her head and crest, when they are courting pre- 

 vious to the deposition of another batch of eggs; and if he does scold, 

 as we have said, when she refuses to take her turn on those valuable 

 productions, it is less from any real resentment against her, than from 

 fear than the precious eggs themselves should take cold. 



In warm weather the young fledge very rapidly, leaving the nest in 

 about three weeks fully grown and able, after a day or two of liberty, 

 to provide for their own wants at the seed-pan; but in cold weather, 

 in the short days of spring and autumn, when morning and evening 

 are chilly, and the night too often frosty, they really seem not to grow 

 at all; so that if it be wished to rear the brood, the whole party, old 

 and young, father, mother, and children, had better all be taken in- 

 doors together, and placed in an apartment where the temperature is 

 not permitted to fall below 55° Fahr.; and in such a situation, not 

 only will that brood be successfully reared, but another will be hatched, 

 and similarly brought up, before the indefatigable parents think of 

 taking a rest to moult. 



Seed, we have said, constitutes the principal food of these birds, 

 which are fond also of bread, and all kinds of green vegetables, from 

 the flowering tufts of grass that grow by the wayside, to common 

 lettuce and prosaic cabbage, the flowering tops of which last seem to 

 afford them extreme delight. We may here mention, or rather repeat, 



