62 
The Black Tafia ger. 
them every mealworm she could get hold of, and though there 
were several scrimmages between the Tanagei's and Ouzels, 
she would not be denied. When the young Ouzels flew she 
still followed them about and mothered them as if they were 
her own. Eventually the Tanagers claimed the Ouzel's neit, 
which was built in a barrel, the front end of which hart been 
removed. A clutch of thx-ee eggs was duly deposited and 
steadily incubated solely by the hen; the cock mostly fed the 
hen on the nest, and merely stood ove/ the eggs for such short 
intervals as she left the nest. For the first week she would 
not allow tne maie to enier tne nest, but took the food from 
him and passed it on to her fledgeling. About the eighth day 
I noticed both birds foraging for Hies, etc., and lx)th taking 
their captures to the nest. The young bird Hew when it was 
about twenty days old and never looked back, but unfortunately 
it died during its first moult. 
1914 opened not one bit more promising than the pre- 
ceding seasons; she still refused to construct a cot for herself 
and future offspring. In lieu of a family of her own she still 
per.^i.'^ted in playing the mother to Grey-wing Ouzels, and on 
this occasion I lost two fine young Ouzels owing to their par- 
ents becoming disgusted and leaving them to the Tanagers, 
who appeared to be unequal to the task .alone, and the (iuzels 
died when all but fully Hedged. Though left in undisturbed 
possession of the Ouzels' nest, she did not use it on this occa- 
sion, but took to a rush nest placed high up under the eave 
of the shelter shed. How many eggs were laid I can't say, 
but one egg was found in the nest, two half shells were picked 
up in the aviary, and one young bird duly left the nest. I 
was unable to keep any data owing to the height of the nest, 
but the gross period occupied and the details of incubation, 
etc., were similar to that of the preceding year: therefore, 
I can only say that the young l)ird was fully reared, its plum- 
age resembling that of the adult hen, but slightly greyer in 
tone, and lacked the sheen of the adult bird. About a week 
aftei- the young bird left the nest, the hen took no further 
notice of it, but its male parent assiduously fed it for another 
fortnight. This young bird was slaughtered by its male par- 
ent during the moult. 
The hen at ouce began prospecting again and chose a 
