My Madagascar Lovebirds 
55 
The time came when I started keeping- birds in outdoor 
aviaries, and again I visited the local dealer and returned home 
with pairs of Budgerigars, Red-headed, and Madagascar Love- 
birds — profiting by my previous experience I carried the travel- 
ling- cages into the aviary, placed them on the ground with the 
wire fronts a few inches away from the back of the aviary, 
opened the doors and left them. A little later I went down to 
the aviary and found all three pairs hoppiiig (jumping) and 
climbing about the branches. This yarn only concerns A. cana 
and I shall keep to my subject. This pair lived with me five 
years, and did not interfere with the other occupants unless their 
preserves were poached upon. They did nothing else, however, 
save look pretty, never even chose a nest receptacle, and when 
they died I was again without the species for a year or so. 
Later two more pairs (costing 3s. 6d. per pair) were put 
into the aviary, and though both pairs chose nest-boxes, and 
carried into them a huge amount of rubbish, T never found any 
eggs, then one of the hens died and the cock mated up with an 
odd Budgerigar, and one young hybrid w^as hatched out, and 
lived to leave the nest : the next day it unfortunately got into the 
bath (a large shallow vessel only containing- an inch depth of 
water) and was drowned. A little later (late autumn) a cock and 
two hens came into my possession leaving' me with three pair.s — 
however, two deaths occurred during the winter and the follow- 
ing spring both pairs went to nest, and one of them successfully 
reared three strong young birds, later in the season a second 
brood of four left the nest, all successfully passing the moult, 
and on one or two occasions since a few young have been 
reared. The following points may be of interest : 
They cut up bark and leaves into strips, tucked them 
between the feathers of their wings and lower back, and flew^ to 
the nest — many pieces were dropped on the way to the nest box, 
but in the course of a week quite a large amount of such rubbish 
was so carried and arranged round the nest receptacle : the interi- 
or of sanie being completely lined with bark, leaves and feathers. 
The hen alone incubates, the cock fed her through the 
hole in the nest-box. She comes oft for an airing of about ten 
