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Marquess of Tavistock—Further Notes for 1931



FURTHER NOTES FOR 1931


By The Marquess of Tavistock


Few aviculturists, I imagine, will look back on the results of the

past summer with much satisfaction. In my own collection it has

been chiefly conspicuous for disappointments. Clear eggs from nearly

all the rarer birds and an amount of rickets among nestlings as

unexpected as it was unwelcome ; the appearance of a new and fatal

disease and quite abnormal losses from straying among liberty birds ;

in fact, mental and physical demoralization all round ! Even the

unusual geniality of November did more harm than good by keeping

the microbes of enteritis and pneumonia rampant beyond their proper

time.


The nesting attempts of some of the rarer birds have already been

recorded, so I will confine this article to an account of the doings of the

rest of the collection.


A Crimson-wing paired to the last of my Sula Island King x

Crimson-wing hybrids incubated three clutches of eggs, but all proved

infertile. The hybrid, now in adult plumage, is the finest specimen

I have had of this most beautiful cross, of which a rather poorly-

coloured example is to be seen at the Zoological Gardens.


A very old Lutino Ringneck spent some weeks in her nest but did

not lay ; I fancy her breeding days are done.


An Amboina King paired to a cock Salwatty—exactly like her

but a much smaller bird—did not go to nest, but as she had only

arrived late the previous autumn she had hardly time to settle down.

I find the beautiful Asiatic Kings the hardiest Parrakeets in my

collection and less susceptible to cold or disease than any other birds.


My cock Many-colour died of septicaemia just when he was coming

into breeding condition. I put the hen with a hybrid Mealy Rosella

X Pennant, but she was rather afraid of him, and I am doubtful if

they actually paired. Anyhow, her eggs were infertile.


The Lutino Amazon raised my hopes by coming into breeding

condition and inspecting a nest, but the accursed Koko, her green

mate, a demon with human beings, repeated his foolish trick of the

previous season, and dropped into an unnecessarily premature moult.



