Correspondence. 
121 
of the trees. The ruse siicceded, they proudly imagined they had at length 
achieved their ends, and I had tlie satisfaction of seeing them both inside 
before the end of the day. That would be quite three weeks ago, but 
matters got " no forarder," as though they were in and out all day long, they 
always tucked themselves up close together on their usual perch in the inner 
aviary at night time. So things went on until last Monday, March 21st, 
when they absented themselves for the first time, and spent the night to- 
gether in their — husk ! The following morning there was an egg, but alas, it 
was on the ground, and chipped, so that it would have been of no use to 
replace it. It was very disappointing, but I hope by this time there may be 
another in the nest, perhaps two. The egg is very large for so small a bird 
as the Violet-neck, which is of course a very small mate for the Blue Moun- 
tain. The antics of the latter must be seen to be believed, he seems as 
though he could hardly contain himself for pride and self-importance. They 
bully a pair of Eclectus, double their size, and even mobbed an Amazon 
when it had taken refuge, as it imagined, on my shoulder. I have ventured 
to write at this length because I have an idea this is the first record of the 
nesting of the Violet-necked Lorj-, and certainly of this particular cross. 
March •24th. (Mrs.) E. A. H. HARTLEY. 
Black-Cheek Lovebirds. A Warning! Sir.— As it may very well 
happen that many of our members are not jiosted up in the habits, manners, 
and customs of Black-cheeks, the following word of warning at the start of 
the breeding season may not come amiss. Into one of my larger aviaries, I 
put as a start, two pairs of Black-cheeks, and these promptly proceeded to es- 
tablish themselves — one pair in a cocoanut husk, the other in a log nest (the 
log nesters of my previous articles). 
Both pairs made nests, and the pair in the cocoanut husk had five eggs 
which had been incubated about 10 days, when, in an evil moment, I intro- 
duced three pairs of Budgerigars into this aviary, providing them with six 
husks for their use, and placing these as far off as possible from the Black- 
cheeks. 
One morning I found all the eggs from the cocoanut husk pair of 
Black-cheeks on the floor of the aviary, and one of the cock budgerigars with 
a severely bitten leg. 
The obvious conclusion to be arrived at is that the Budgerigars " fan- 
cied " the Black-cheek husk — that a battle royal ensued in which the intru- 
ders got severely mauled, and what is of more consequence, my first nest of 
Black-cheeks lost. Of course I at once removed the Budgerigars, and peace 
now reigns. 
In order to provide accommodation for the Budgerigars I was obliged 
to turn a miscellaneous lot of finches in with the Black-cheeks, and they 
are quite a happy family. Moral — Don't put Black-cheek Lovebirds and 
Budgerigars in the same aviary. HAYWARD W. MATHIAS. 
