240 
" JoscpJi. 
steadv in a ca.^'e, tlion^ii not fin.^'er-tame. (The term " fin£:;'er- 
tanie " as a])plied to a cock Broadtail, means " ready to come up 
aud bite your finger severely;" when tame tliey are seldom, or 
never, affectionate towards human beings! ) Joseph soon made 
himself fairly at home in a wire netting cage, about 3 feet 6 
niches x 2 feet 6 inches x 3 feet, which gave him more room 
han an ordinary parrot cage; but it was some tiiue before he 
ivould venture right into his bath, and he spent a lot of time 
trying to splash himself from outside. The greenfood I stuck 
in a vase about the same height as the perch ; in this way it kept 
fresh a long" time and he hardly ever pulled it all out or upset 
the water, contenting himself with nibbling- off just wdiat he 
required at the time. 
He had several whistling calls, some very musical and 
none really unpleasant, so that he was quite an unobjectionable 
inmate of the drawing room ; onlv on one occasion he rather 
seriously undermined the gravity of a Y.W.C.A. prayer meeting 
my wi*"e was holding, by the emjihatic way he interjected musical 
conunents at all the most inappropriate and solemn moments. 
I have noticed that, whereas there are a few calls uttered by all 
the members of a particular species of flatxccrcns. each 
individual seems to have a few extra ones, wholly, or almost, 
peculiar to himself. 
Thinking that he would like a mate. T obtained Joseph 
a hen Mealy Rosella as a companion, putting her in a cage close 
to him until they had had time to .get used to one another. He 
seemed pleased to see her, at which I was not sur])rised. as for 
some time past he had shown signs of being in breeding" 
condition ; she seemed equally pleased to see him, and both got 
half fr.-mtic if they were placed out of sight of one another . 
But there was a surprise in store; when I let the Mealy 
walk into Joseph's cage, he daslied away from her. and 
appeared terrified, although she made no attempt to molest him. 
and. in fact, was more than ready to make advances herself. 
Day after day 1 tried the same experiment with the same result ; 
if the Mealy was taken out of the rooiu. Joseph fluttered 
against the wire and called distractedly, but once she entered 
