252 The Marquess of Tavistock—1934 : Things that didn’t come off


returned to the aviary. I gave them a long rest and returned their

nests when the warm weather at last arrived, but although their mates

tried hard to induce them to make a second attempt they never settled

down again and finally dropped into moult.


Their mother, who always gets egg-bound on the smallest provoca¬

tion, I kept back from nesting until 15th May. She laid her usual two

eggs but only hatched one youngster and it died when a week or two

old, from what cause I cannot say.


A lutinistic Plumhead, paired to her two-year-old son, had clear

eggs and later, unfortunately, the young cock died, so only one remains

of the four I bred from lutinistic parents in 1932.


An imported cock Malabar was paired to a young hen I bred a few

years ago. She had laid successfully at Keston. She took to her nest

and then got ill and continued to get ill every time she was returned to

the aviary until in desperation I put her in another aviary and gave

her mother to her former mate. The old hen is a great hand at

getting egg-bound unless kept very warm, but rather to my surprise,

though she made rather heavy weather of it, she completed a small

clutch late in May. The eggs were, however, infertile, as the cock

was starting to moult and would not pair.


An imported hen, who had laid successfully two years ago, was

mated to a cock I bred. She dropped two eggs from the perch and then

got egg-bound. Her last egg, laid in the hospital, she sat on when

returned to the aviary but it disappeared after about a fortnight.

Though very beautiful, Malabars are tiresome birds to manage. They

come into breeding condition very early and usually go off early ; are

very subject to egg-binding ; can only rear healthy young in natural

tree-trunks in the open flight; and get frost-bitten toes on the very j

slightest provocation.


I had great hopes of breeding Racket-tailed Parrots this year, but

the hen behaved just as she did last season, going into the nest quite

a lot but getting no further. I recently acquired a second pair of this

very lovely but uncertain Parrot. Unfortunately the hen died of

paratyphoid within a few days of her arrival and was probably infected

when she reached me. The cock promises to become an even finer

specimen than my present one —if he lives !



