34 Ohscrvahotis on Su))ic Jlyhrids uf ilic I'luccidac . 
seeiu.L; anvtliiii!; leave the box, 1 lost patience and opened it one 
mornini;'. It contained a small bird, still too youny to leave the 
nest, but already having' enoiit^h feathers to make use of its 
wings. At the sight of me it began to cry, by which I found 
that the inside speckles of its throat resembled in every partic- 
ular those of the young Mandarin. Then, after this legitimate 
protest against the disturbance of its domicile, it abruptly turned 
its back upon me, and tumbled down into the middle of the 
aviary. I put it back in the box, but, as always happens in such 
cases, the bird refused to stay there, so tiiat. as I expected, its 
corpse was brought to me two days later, before breakfast. — 
Therefore, never touch young birds when they are growing their 
feathers. 
It was only at the end of September that I again heard 
cries coming from the nest. Two days later a young bird was 
outside, very lively and flying well. A few days later, seeing 
that the family did not increase, 1 visited the nest : it contained 
two addled eggs. The young ones certainly grow very slowly, 
judging from the long time that elapsed between the repairing 
of the nest and the little ones leaving it. They grow much 
more slowly than young Diamants Modestes or Mandarins. The 
father visited the nest very irregularly, and the brunt of the hard 
work of feeding the young one fell on the mother. Perhaps 
this is the cause of the anomaly. 
On the 15th October the young bird found its own food. 
The most notable dif¥erence which then distinguished it from 
the Mandarins of its own age was the absence of the " whiskers" 
characteristic of this species. Its beak was longer and not as 
broad. The few patches of white in evidence on the secondary 
wings of the Modestes were clearly marked and revealed its 
origin. 
At the end of November it had assumed its full adult male 
plumage. This is the description of it which I find in my notes : 
The wings are like those of the father, but the wing 
primaries are not edged with white; the back is of a less vivid 
colour than that of the Modeste. Of the red on the head of 
the father there is only a slight trace evident oit the forehead. 
It has no ])lack bib. The chest is streaked like that of the male 
Mandarin ; the traces of black are more deeply marked, and go 
