242 
" Joseph." 
1'he Stanley spent more and more time in the nest until 
she began to sleep there also, and a day or two later the first 
egg appeared. The following morning, however, the hen 
did not look well, and it was evident that egg-binding was 
imminent. Next day she appeared very weak and ill and I wa.^ 
obliged to take her away to another room and put her in a cage 
in front of the fire. She never passed the egg, but grew slowly 
better after a few days, and was quite herself again at the end 
of a month. In June I moved to the country where Joseph and 
his mate were accommodated in a nice large aviary, much to 
their satisfaction — in fact Joseph, who was beginning" to moult, 
stopped casting his feathers for a bit and actually came back 
into breeding" condition. In September I took the Stanley 
away and gave Joseph a hen Rosella in her place. He took to 
her quite readily, having previously spent some days in solitude. 
This Rosella, though tame, was rather a poor specimen, and 
became seedy during a spell of severe weather that winter. I 
therefore took her in and gave Joseph a fine Tasmanian hen in 
her place— the largest and brightest female Rosella I have ever 
seen, though easily distinguishable from a male to a practised 
eye. (The presence of tiny greenish feathers at the back of the 
eye is a useful indication of sex in adults. Cocks never have 
them: hens always, or almost always, have). 
In the spring I released the tame Rosella in the garden 
with a new cock; Joseph was not at all pleased to see his former 
wife again, and. warned by the maledictions he hurled at her, 
she gave the aviary a wide berth ; the cock, however, used to 
fight Joseph through the wire, no damage, however, resulting 
to either. In early June the Tasmanian hen began to spend 
a good deal of time in the nest box, but no eggs were laid till 
the following season, when she produced three, one being very 
small. She sat very steadily, but to my disappointment the 
eggs were all clear. This year four eggs were laid, and in due 
course a squeaking inside the box disclosed the presence of a 
yotmgster. He tumbled out while still unable to fiy, but did 
not seem any the w"orse. A week or two later he left the nest 
for good, but presented a very odd appearance as his mother 
had nibbled all the feathers off his head, neck and back. 
Whether Joseph was annoyed at the disfigurement of his 
