H. Yealland — Hand-rearing of the White-capped Parrot 13


she declined to move when the log was tapped, it was clear that

any young ones there might be would need to be rescued by bold

methods. I took off the lid, and even so could see nothing but the

defiant hen : it was then a choice between removing her and

chancing desertion, and leaving her and risking whether the

potential young survived until I could catch her off. I decided on

the former course and, by lowering a twig into the nest so that the

hen clung savagely to it, I was able without much difficulty to get

her out.


I found one young one about four days old, and the other fertile

egg contained a dead chick, for a lot of dark liquid could be seen

moving about inside when the egg was turned. I took the young

one into the hospital and put it into a small box containing a thick

layering of soft, crumbled, decayed wood, and on the top of this a

piece of flannel. The flannel was not absolutely necessary, but by

changing it twice daily the box could be kept very clean, and it

was also useful for the better observation of the state of the young

one’s bowels. The temperature of the hospital at that time was

between 80° and 85° F., and so, with another piece of flannel laid

on the young one, its body warmth was, I conjectured, quite well

maintained.


The parents seemed to feel their loss considerably, for the hen

was very sulky for some days, while the cock took on a special fury

and it was evident that he regarded such interference with his

privilege to kill his own young a positive outrage.


When I brought the little bird in it had a small quantity of

food in its crop, and this lasted it until the early afternoon. I at

first thought that it would be impossible to supply semi-solid food

to so small a bird, and accordingly I started to give egg and milk,

but found that a meal of this lasted only about two hours and it

was clear that something more sustaining was needed. The following

mixture was then tried, and it is upon this that the bird has been

successfully reared : 1 part soaked monkey nuts, \ part soaked

shelled sunflower seed, 1 part brown bread, § part peeled sweet

apple, small quantity of green food (such as the leaves of the soft

milk thistle, lettuce, dandelion, and cabbage), a small quantity



