Nesting Notes, Etc. 
211 
l)ein^' a bad sitter and her eggs had | roved infertile. She never, 
moreover, looked quite as fit as the cock. Tlie pair liad been win- 
tered in a l)ig outdoor aviary and were given plenty of meal- 
worms, of which they were extremely fond. Early in the year 
the cock came into breeding condition, l)ut as the hen would have 
nothing to do with him, he took a great dislike to her, biting 
her when she came near him, and continually trying to get to 
the lutino ring-neck in the next compartment ; when the ring- 
neck began to sit, he transferred his affections to a hen 
Barraband's on the other side, and took not the slightest notice 
of his own wife, who by this time was going to the nest-box 
herself. She laid two soft-shelled eggs and one shelled one 
upon which she sat steadily the full time, but without result as 
was not to be wondered at. I imagined that nesting was over 
for the year, but to my great surprise the hen Alexandra laid 
a second time, again only one egg having a proper shell. We 
had removed all female society likely to interest the unfaithful 
husband, but his attitude towards his wife showed but little 
improvement, and it came as a great surprise to me when 
I heard that the egg had hatched. The young bird fell out of 
the nest when half-grown, but fortunately was none the worse 
for the accident and in due course was fully reared by its mother. 
The male never displayed the least interest in his child, and the 
most that can be said for him is that he does not molest it. The 
young bird differs very little from the adults in plumage. 
The hen Gouldian Finch died in the early summer, soon 
after being ]nit out. A pair of Violet-eared Waxbills. bought 
a few months ago on arrival in England, built a very prettv 
ne.st a few weeks later and laid four eggs, which unluckily 
proved infertile. They nested a second time, but the cock died 
as soon as the hen began to sit. 
