GOGEATIBL. 
35 
That these birds, as we have said, breed in hollow boughs in their 
own country is without doubt, but ours preferred a box with half a 
cocoa-nut husk cemented in it: although capable of giving a severe 
bite, we have not observed in the Cockatiel that passionate desire for 
whittling so common in the Parrot family, but, on the contrary, an 
evident disinclination to burrow and scoop out wood, so that possibly, 
if solid logs only, though over so rotton, were given them, that was 
the reason a recent writer’s birds preferred nesting on the ground, 
to taking the trouble to hollow out a dwelling for themselves, or even 
to enlarging a buri'ow that had been partially prepared for them. 
The food of this species consists mainly of grass-seeds in their native 
wilds, and in captivity they seem to prefer canary-seed to any other, 
but when they have young ones to feed, they will eat, and seem to 
require, oats and bread-crumbs, soaked in cold water as well as dry, 
but not hard. The Cockatiel is undoubtedly a lazy bird, at least becomes 
so under domestication, and will never do for himself anything that he 
can get his owner to do for him. Thus in the matter of feeding the 
young ones, there can be no doubt that in their native woods the 
parent birds forage far and near to provide their progeny with food, 
but in the bird-room or aviary, unless the food is just to their taste, 
and placed where they can readily reach it, they will rather let the 
young ones starve, than take the least trouble to fill their hungry little 
bellies, for they will not eat enough seed to feed both themselves and 
their young ones, but prefer to gobble up a quantity of bread, which 
does not need much preparation, and if a supply of this food fails, we 
have found that the young birds suffer. 
Although good walkers and quick runners, the Oockatiels are also 
strong on the wing, and circle round and round their domicile, in a 
bold and graceful manner, when let out for a fly: this is an accom- 
plishment they learn quickly, but had better be taught in the country 
than in London, where such multitudes of cats are ever on the look 
out for a morsel, and have no more scruple in pouncing on the most 
valuable exotic bird that, unfortunately, falls in their way, than on the 
dirtiest and most disreputable of cockney sparrows. 
Oockatiels are healthy and long-lived birds, enduring for quite a 
number of yearsj a male that has been in our possession for the last 
ten years, and we have no idea of his age at the time when he became 
an inmate of our aviary, appears, as we write, to be in the perfection 
of health and vigour: married to his third wife since he has lived with 
us, he is now busily engaged in providing for the wants of a young 
family, and seems to enter as heartily into the discharge of his important 
duties as ever he did. 
