H. Yealland — Hand-rearing of the White-capped Parrot 15


The bird continued to thrive, and was of such aggressive health

that I had hopes of a successful rearing. As more and more “ pin

feathers made their appearance, I wondered if the heat of the

room was too great, and partly for this reason, and partly because

the covering was often trampled underfoot by the young one, I dis¬

continued the covering altogether.


At about four weeks the bird was fairly well covered with

feathers, and I thought it would be better for its health to be kept

in the next room, the temperature of which is maintained at 65 to

70°, and to this end I lowered the hospital temperature by about

one degree each day. I never succeeded in getting the temperature

below 76° before another sick bird had to be brought in, and the

heat increased to 85° again.


On 12th November I moved the bird to another open-topped

hox containing a depth of about 2 inches of crumbled decayed wood.

The flannel was dispensed with, and the box was stood inside a cage.

At about 9 inches above the decayed wood was the entrance hole

of the box, and I nailed some pieces of bark on the side leading up

to this. The next day the little parrot climbed up and looked out

of the hole, and for a further two days spent most of its time looking

out. I am sure it was quite capable of climbing out, but lacked

the confidence to climb on to the thin perch I had arranged near the

hole, and so on the morning of 15th November I fixed up a strip

of stout bark across the cage near the hole, and during the afternoon

the bird climbed out. It went back into the box to roost, and at

the time of writing (24th November) it has continued to do so.

During the day, however, it climbs about the wire and the perches,

and only goes into the box to exercise its wings.


It has considerable strength in its beak and has already bitten

off a lot of bark. It has also been eating some shelled monkey nut

and has shelled sunflower seed and eaten some of it, but has not so

far touched any of the other soaked seed which I have put in a

dish hanging on the side of the cage. I think this bird will be

fully as large as its parents when it has finished growing.


The coloration of the back, upper tail coverts, and wings is

Cinnabar green with a bronze shading on the wings; the breast and



