222 
S'oute Kxpe7-irnces of Gorkatuos. 
was screeching his sympathy at the top of his voice. For 
a long time she had been frantic to join tiiem and had even 
communicated some of her excitement to the sickly bird in 
the cage beside her. When at last the door was open and 
rind she shot out to join her friends, some forgotten memory 
must have stirred the old fellow's brain, 'for, raising his crest 
and half spreading his useless wings, he exclaimed " Baby! 
Baby! Baby!" in hoarse and sepulchral tones. It was the 
first time we had heard his voice since he came to us nearly 
five months before! Next day, he, too, received his liberty, 
hut the circus hen attacked him so savagely that we were 
compelled to shut him up again to save his life. For the 
rest of the year I kept him in various large aviaries, hoping 
that increased freedom would benefit his health, but he never 
impToved, and when at length he died the nature of his illness 
and the infection which he was the means of spreading, showed 
that it would have l>een well, indeed, if 1 had never seen him. 
In the early summer I obtained another tame cock Roseate 
and a hen, which were released soon after their arrival. To 
the former, for some reason, " Cocky " took a great di.s ■ 
like and made frequent but unavailing efforts to drive him 
away from the house. The establishment of a flock of six 
proved to be the high water-mark of my success. Misfor- 
tune soon set in: first the circus hen was stolen by a man 
living in a town which she often visited about a mile from 
home and not long afterwards the same wretch (as we after- 
wards learned) secured poor " Cocky " with the aid of a 
neighbour's Eoseate, which he used as a deco3^ " Cocky " 
was a sad loss, for though his pecuniary value was, of course, 
small, his cheerful personality and interesting history made 
him quite one of the most cherished members of my collec- 
tion. I have always retained a hope that I may one d-iy 
get him back, but I fear the chances are in reality very small 
indeed, the number of Roseates in captivity being so enor- 
mous; still, if any reader of " Bird Notes " should ever come 
across a male representative of Cocky 's race who says in a 
loud (and rather vulgar) voice "Cocky! Cocky!" and " Hullo, 
cocky!" and whose antecedents show that he might bo my 
lost favourite, I should be deeply grateful if he would com- 
municate with me I 
