248 Breeding of Passerine Parrakeeis, etc. 
elusion that tlie hen was a barren bird, and I recently parted 
with the pair to a friend, who asked nie for "attractive" birds 
for his aviary, and who did not care whether they were breeders 
or not. 
To show the contrariness of the lady, my friend recentlj' 
informed me that very soon after the arrival of the Black Cheeks 
they had taken possession of a husk and had started building 
operations, and I hope that in due time more young Black Cheeks 
have come into being. 
Perhaps the "contrariness" evinced by this pair maj' 
explain the disappointment I understand that a good many 
aviculturists have experienced with their Black Cheeks this 
season, for it rather points to the fact that for refractory pairs 
change of quarters may conduce to successful breeding opera- 
tions. 
As to my other Black Cheeks. One pair took possession 
of a cocoa-nut husk the day thej' arrived, and I jumped to the 
conclusion they were nesting : but no such thing ! They simply 
made it their place of refuge, and it was not until about a month 
later that I had the satisfaction of seeing millet heads carried 
into the husk, and, in due course of time, four youngsters (as 
like their parents as "two peas") made their appearance in the 
aviary. 
The second pair, after worrying around the rest of the 
husks, finally took to a large hollow trunk I had cut from an 
old apple tree. This trunk was placed in a horizontal position on 
a shelf in the nesting quarters, and the Black Cheeks proceeded to 
fill up the entire hollow with millet heads, making therefore an 
enormous nest. One end of the hollow tree trunk had been 
stopped up, by nailing a piece of board across it, and, as I shall 
show later on, it was at this far end that the actual nest was 
placed. This pair also produced, as their first effort, four young- 
sters, so I have every reason to be satisfied with the result of the 
first round — eight birds from the eight eggs laid. 
The young birds from both pairs used the husk and log in 
which they were respectively bred as their " home," and I soon 
found that pair No. i had lined another husk, and that the lady 
had laid five eggs, from which, in due course, five young made 
