Soinr Kxpericncc.s of Cucliutoos. 
323 
mandibles, so on the 8tli day the end 'came. Poor Teddy! He 
was the finest bird I ever had, the moit interesting and, with 
the one exception of my Little Owl " Peeps," the most intelli- 
gent and companionahlc. In two ways I might have saved 
him, and I learned both some months too late! Fate having 
deprived me of Teddy now decreed that I should I'.ive my 
last hope of a bj'eeding triumph dashe 1 to the ground. Early 
in the winter I moved the Zoo cock into the indoor compart- 
ment of a laige aviary, together with Timmie, whom' I thought 
it prudent to shut up. At first, owing to long confinement, 
he was quite unal)le to use his wings, but his powers of 
flight soon returned and once he had gained the upper perches 
he never seemed disposed to descend again to the ground. 
Then in an evil hour I gave oz'ders that a small space should 
be left at the bottom of the door of the aviary to enable Quails 
and other small birds to come in ami enjoy the warmth. I 
never dreamed that the Banksian would find this opening, let 
alone squeeze through it, but the fact remains that he did and 
was soon at liberty. It does not take long to relate what 
followed; Toby, lonely and restless, after many weeks joF 
solitude, gladly joined him on hearing his cries. The two rose 
into the air and I never heard of jeither of them again ! 
But even this was not the end: a few weeks before 
this fresh disaster I had bought another young hen Banksian, 
which, after the Zoo cock's departure, I i^ut into the aviary 
with Timmie. At the same time I unwisely introduced the 
old roseate Cockatoo, which, as I have said before, I now 
believe to have been responsible for one of my first losses. 
The new arrival was strong and healthy and although shy, was 
not unduly nervous, and had no prejudices in the matter of 
diet. yhe was extremely glad to see Timmie \v\w (in tiio 
other hand was rather afraid of her and viewed her with dis- 
favour. For a time things jiursued an uneventful coui'se, ami 
although I once or twice noticed that the young lien seemed 
to be a bit clumsy in climbing out of the feeding tray, I did 
not realise that anything was wrong. The crisis came sud- 
denly when one morning I entered the aviary to find Timmie 
bundled up in a corner, as sick as she could well be. We 
caught her and found her to be a mere skeleton; we caught 
the young hen and found her a trifle worse. The old Koseate 
