Some Experieiices of Cockatoos. 
183 
Mrs. Hartley has not added to her stock for the past 
two years as she has felt unsettled in her present residence, 
antl this year is moving into another county. 1 noticed very 
few yaps since niy last visit of two years ago, and all the 
stock was in the best of order, and in conclusion I may state 
that among them are many veterans ranging up to i'J years 
old. 
To be continued. 
♦ 
Some Experiences of Cockatoos. 
Ey thk Makquis of Tavistock. 
It is, I think, a not uncommon exijerience for an a^ i- 
cultui'alist, particularly if he be a venturesome one, to find tiiat 
while Fortune may smile upon his efforts in many directions, 
there will yet i-emain a group of birds — or periiaps one 
favourite species — success with whicii will always be denied 
him. In my efl'oi'ts to breed tiie rai'er and more delicate 
Australian Parrakeets in coniinement, and to keep tiie hardier 
ones at liberty, I must admit that I have been often unsuc- 
cessful, and have had many a cherished illusion dissipateiJ. 
I used to believe, for instance, thai Owls lived on mice and 
Sparrows and did'nt touch birds tiie size of a liirush. Don't 
they I 1 I used to believe that a mechanical contrivance, 
such as a trap feeding-tray, would prove oliedient to the laws 
of gravity and the will of the mventor. 1 now know that 
it obeys nothing but tlie evil spirit which possesses it — a 
cunning and malignant liend, whose resourceful pi'anks I 
cannot yet claim to have entirely outwi/tted. I used to be- 
lieve that fresh air and cleanliness would check the spread 
of any infectious ailment, i have since seen rare ti'easures 
sicken and die in the pure summer air as free as the swallows, 
and as liealthy, until the slight but fatal taint reached them, 
and spread by means beyond our power to control. Yes, 1 
have learned many things in the course of foui' years' some- 
what varied experience — but I have not failed. In the past 
there has been success as well as misfortune, and, what is 
even better, there is promise for the future. 
But with Cockatoos we have always been unlucky and 
of the many we have kept at different times only three now 
remain. Still, it is, perhaps, better to have kept and lost 
