126 WEST AFRICAN LOVE- BIRD. 



"They are so much attached to each other that they must always 

 be had iu pairs, aud if one dies, the other rarely survives it.-" The 

 fact being, that the fever, or consumption, contracted on the voyage, 

 that shortens the days of one, has usually been communicated to the 

 other — et hinc illce lachrymce. 



"Some people think", continues the ancient Bechstein, as the Ger- 

 mans affectionately term the father of bird-lore in their country, no 

 less than in our own, "that a mirror hung in the cage, in which the 

 survivor may imagine that it still sees its lost companion, will console 

 it. The male remains affectionately near the female, feeds her, and 

 gives her the most tender caresses; she, in her turn, shows the greatest 

 uneasiness if she be separated from him for an instant." 



Just so: the fact being that half the time the supposed ' pairs' are 

 two males, or two females, as the case may be, when, especially if the 

 former, they will feed and caress each other with as much assiduity, 

 and apparent fondness, as if they were really a married couple. 



"The name of Unzertrennliche, or c Inseparables'" writes Dr. Russ, 

 "is not correct, for a single individual will live for a number of years." 



No, the romantic notion of their conjugal devotion must be given 

 up, nor is the fable of their affectionate disposition any longer tenable : 

 we have found them capable of fighting fiercely, not only with other 

 birds, but among themselves, as a correspondent also testifies. 



"Apropos of Love-birds", writes this gentleman, "I can only remark 

 that I have a Red-faced one to which it would puzzle you to apply the 

 epithet 'amiable', for a more surly, ill-tempered little glutton never 

 existed. She quarrels with her husband, whom she drives about, com- 

 pels to feed her with partly digested food from his craw, and then 

 thrashes if he does not sit close enough to her, or if he dares to move 

 before she is ready. In fact a more hen-pecked wretch never lived, 

 and yet he seems to like it, and to be specially proud of his beautiful 

 but utterly unamiable wife." 



Some of these birds, nevertheless, are quiet and amiable enough, 

 but their general character appears to be the reverse of good-natured: 

 in a large aviary, where they have abundance of space to disport 

 themselves, and more occupation, they are seen to the best advantage. 



Notwithstanding some insinuations to the contrary, it is certain these 

 birds have not as yet been bred in Europe : but in justice to a person, 

 who professes to have bred them, we must say that there is a kindred 

 species, called the Rosy or Peach-faced Love-bird, to which we shall 

 refer in a subsequent chapter, that breeds freely in captivity, and it is 

 possible, we may say probable, that the person in question confounded 

 it with the species under consideration : we will go a step further and 



