100 
'Some 'Experiences of Coel:aioos. 
great energy in digging holes in the turf. At first we thought 
that they Avere only gratifying theii- natural love of m'ischief 
and filled the holes up, but after a time they grew so per- 
sistent that I derided to let them ailone. In two or three 
weeks they made an excavation about ten inches deep, over 
part of which I placed a board to provide them with a 
certain amount of shelter. This assistance they accepted in 
good part, and in due course tlie Tien laid three eggs and 
began to sit. Her mate, like the cock Gang-gang, never 
attempted to feed her, but he would relieve her on the nest, 
when she went off to get a meal, though he never 'sat for 
very long at a time, and appeared glad to relinquish his 
charge on her retu^'n. One of the eggs got cracked au'd' 
had to be removed Tit was white and very .small — hardly 
larger than a pigeon's) but a^'ter about five weeks a baby 
Cockatoo made its appearance, to be followed two days later 
by a second. The nestlings were nof n'-ettv. in fact thev were 
horrid little obiects, very red in colour, blind, and whollfv 
destitute of anv kind of downv covc-incr. For a time thev 
did well, but on going to look at them after 'a very wet 
night fthe parents never resented the inspection of their 
famihO T found them very weak and cold with their beaks 
choked with wet clav. To make them more comfortable, 
T half -filled the hole with mos«, and t'le iilan answered ad- 
mirably, for from that time on they throve amazingly and 
never once "looked back." Both old birds fed their babies 
assidnou'-'lv *\\<^ p^'ocess. as the latter .i^-Tew o'dcr. being ac- 
eompanierl Iw a very loud and peculiar noi''e --" ek, ek, ek, 
ek, ek "— hnw produced T ( ouM never quite determine. While 
being fed the young ker)t their beaks all time in close 
contact with those of their parents, who never paused at 
frequent interval ', as most Pa^rakeets do to regurgitate food 
from the crop to the mouth. The young Roseates left the 
nest when about ten weeks old. the cock emerging a few 
days before his sister. For some time previous they ha^'d 
quarrelled incessantly, apparently vealizing that the unusual 
situation of their home made it possible for them to "fall 
out" after the fashion of the little birds in the familiar riddle! 
Their plumage was not unlike that of their parents, though 
decidedly paler, and their breasts had a greyish tint. By 
this time the old birds had bolh moullcd, and for a time the 
