118 BUDGERIGAR. 



matured on the vast plains of the interior during its absence in the 

 south; and it on these journeys to and from their breeding grounds 

 that the professional bird-catchers lie in wait for them, and take them, 

 old and young, by the thousand. 



These birds are very hardy, and though tightly packed in close 

 boxes, wired only in front, and generally kept without water during the 

 voyage, they usually arrive in fair condition; and, contrary to the opinion 

 of some writers, go to nest quite unconcernedly in the aviary a few 

 weeks after their arrival. 



Endowed with a great love of hearing its own voice, the Budgerigar 

 is an almost incessant warbler, nor is his little song altogether un- 

 pleasing, or devoid of melody; except when eating or sleeping he is 

 always singing after his fashion; and if he has no companion to whom 

 to address his lays, or speech, whichever it may be, he takes a stick 

 of some kind into his confidence, and chatters to it by the hour, running 

 his beak up and down the perch, or stick, after a manner that is no 

 less curious than bewildering to the looker-on. 



Very fond of company, the Budgerigar will, nevertheless, live quite 

 well by himself, and, if he pines for society, does not show it, but 

 "lets concealment, like a worm i } the bud" prey on his vitals, and 

 these must be tough, for they last him a long while. 



An interesting account of a talking Budgerigar appeared in a recent 

 number of Dr. Russ's ornithological paper, Die Gefiederte Welt; and we 

 have had males that imitated, passably, the Canary's song. 



The females of this species are extremely subject to egg-binding, a 

 fatality which, we are inclined to think, arises from two distinct causes : 

 namely, debility and deficiency of lime in the system. 



In-breeding is a frequent source of debility, which is more suscep- 

 tible of prevention than of cure: the amateur must not suffer consan- 

 guineous unions to take place among his birds, which will then be 

 strong, large, and vividly coloured: while inbred specimens are, as a 

 rule, under-sized, delicate, and of a pale washed-out shade, that is any 

 thing but attractive. 



Egg-binding from deficiency of lime should not be allowed to occur 

 in any well-regulated aviary, the floor of which should be abundantly 

 covered with sand, small gravel, old mortar and oyster-shells pounded, 

 or even the broken up egg-shells of the domestic fowl. 



It has been thought that an accumulation of fat on the internal 

 organs gives rise to egg-binding, and so, in some cases at least, it 

 does, by causing actual obstruction to the passage of the egg from 

 the oviduct into the cloaca, and giving rise to inflammation, which 

 generally terminates fatally. Occasionally a kind of spasm of the 



