" Joseph." 
243 
offspriui;', 1 do ni)t know, hut for several weeks he was 
extrenielv snapp}' with his wife, tlums^h he cared for tlie young 
hird most devotedly- ( )ne nioruint;', however, I noticed that 
the latter was not looking- quite up to the mark, tlious^h he did 
not seem seriously ill; so 1 watched iiiiu. lie climbed on to a 
ledi^e near the wire and when I i)Ut my hand up to him he took 
no notice. Theii suddenly he gave a slight cry and fell 
backwards, clung for a moment to the netti'.ig and dropped 
to the ground, and after one or two convulsive tiajis, was dead! 
[li^ parents dashed up excitedly as soon as the spasm seized 
him and followed him to the ground. Once Joseph touched 
his beak and whistled softly to try and rouse him, but there was 
no response, and realising that all was over he flew up to the 
perch again. 'l he i)ost luortem report was pleurisy and 
i)ericarditis : 1 had expected apoplexy from the symptoms. 
A few weeks later I decided, after a good deal of 
consideration, to give Joseph and his wife their liberty. Joseph 
was getting on in years, and it did not seem probalile that he 
would be of much, more use for breeding in confinement. 
.Moreover. I had the oti'er of other Yellow-mantles, which I 
hope to secure before long. One evening, therefore. I had 
the wire netting removed from part of the flight. l"or some 
tinie the inmates did not realize that their captivity was over, 
but finally th.-^ Rosella flew into some bushes close by and began 
to climb ab uit and nibble the leaves. Joseph called to her. 
but did not follow, and fearing that he might decide to spend 
the niglit in his old quarters, which w-ere now oi)en to invasion 
by cats, I drove him gently out. He only went a few yards, 
and at first seemed scared by his unaccustomed surroundings, 
but later in the evening he had gained confidence and was 
whistling in his usual way before going to sleep. 1 put food on 
the top of the aviary, expecting that the birds would come down 
to feed as soon as it was light. \\'hen I went out next morning, 
however, the food was untouched, and later I discovered the 
pair in a different part of the garden. All their domesticity 
had slipped away from then) and they were flying restlessly from 
tree-top to tree-top in a way I did not altogether like. W'hen 
evening came there wa.s no sign of Joseph, and I began to 
