Further Breeding Notes for 1932



313



to have artistic tastes as she persistently refused to nest until her box

was decorated inside and out with natural bark ! A second pair of

Barrabands which reared three young are interesting in that their

offspring are third generation aviary-bred and are from parents that

are brother and sister into the bargain. The parents were bred by

Mr. Ezra from a pair bred by myself. Birds of the same species—

especially intelligent ones like Parrakeets—show interesting and

(sometimes !) delightful variations in individual temperament. The

mother of the three young birds stands out among all the Barraband

hens I have owned for her extreme enthusiasm for the joys and cares

of domestic life. She had nested with a previous owner but her eggs

had been infertile and an exchange for an unrelated bird had been

arranged. The day after her arrival she showed no uneasiness at her

strange surroundings nor regret for her former mate, but climbed

about in a great state of excitement answering the calls of the gentleman

she had decided on as his successor. The favoured cock had been

living for a considerable time with another lady, though in justice to

him and the very high standard of morality characteristic of Barrabands,

I cannot say that he had actually made proposals of marriage. Any¬

how, as soon as he discovered the new hen’s aviary (he was a partly

trained liberty bird), he had eyes for nothing but her. They fell

violently in love at first sight and have been devoted to each other

ever since. Directly the nest-box was put in they took possession

of it and for nearly nine weeks I saw so little of the hen that I often

feared she might be dead. I have never had a Barraband who took

to her nest so quickly or stayed so constantly with her family until

they were almost ready to fly.


Two pairs of Indian Ringnecks living in the same large aviary

went to nest about the same time. One pair reared five strong

young ones but only a solitary youngster emerged from the second

nest, to be fatally injured soon after by the parents of the five.

Later we found the mummied corpse of the second hen inside her

box. The tragedy shows that even ring-necks cannot safely be kept

together in the breeding season, even though they are said often to nest

in colonies in India. A pair of Rosellas had six young in their first

nest. One young bird was rickety and injured itself and had to be



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