Winston S. Rowe — Som,e Notes on Feeding



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down to the netting in the rain. Netting used is heavy gauge \ in.

I once watched the hen practically walk through some very light

netting in a way which made me think my cutters must be blunt !


Lovebirds


At present only Fischers are kept. I have had Masked, Blackcheeked,

and Peachfaced. The Peachfaced were only retained for three months.

They all had, and the Fischers still have, access to sunflower and hemp

mixed, canary, and white millet. Millet sprays occasionally given.

Soaked oats daily. Fruit is eaten spasmodically, sometimes none is-

touched for six or eight weeks. Groundsel is the best liked of all the

green foods. An orange seems to be appreciated more in summer.

Lovebirds do more damage to their aviary than the Alexandrines.

The aviary is also 17 X 4| X 7 feet high. I have been very lucky in

the past when I mixed some pairs of Lovebirds, i.e. Fischers and

Masked, in a large aviary with small Finches. Provided they had

branches and canary travelling cages to bite up, no damage was done,

but it was hopeless in a small aviary 6 feet square.


The question of supplying sunflower and hemp ad lib. was very

debatable. However, I thought that if Primley Zoo could do it, I

could ! I never found my birds excessively fat when in a large aviary.

In the small 8x6 aviary I lost three Blackcheeks in quick succession

from being over fat. When supplying hemp in a separate dish, Love¬

birds have a spell of eating large quantities of it and then eat very little

for a while.



Blue Crowned Conures


Aviary 14 X 4 X 7 feet high; age unknown. At present the only seeds

eaten are sunflower and hemp, with two to three peanuts. Greenstuff

and soaked oats not touched as yet. Half an apple and half an orange

or one or the other substituted by grapes or banana are greedily eaten.

They frequently bathe. Only being in my possession a month, it is

too early to state their likes and dislikes. Both are very intelligent

and tame. The Alexandrines, by the way, do not appear very intelligent.

I am not quite sure whether these are the true Blue Crowned Conure

(C. hcemorrlious) as the beak is of a medium dark horn colour. The



