Breeding Notes from New Zealand and Australia



107



BREEDING NOTES FROM NEW ZEALAND

AND AUSTRALIA


BREEDING NOTES FROM MR. J. SMITH’S AVIARIES


My aviary tenants are principally of the Australian Parrot family,

among which are Cockatoos, Galahs, Kings, Rainbows, Crimson-

wings, Stanleys, Red Rumps, Pennants, Hoodeds, Turquoisines,

Cockatiels, and, of course, Budgerigars.


Nesting began early in August, but with most pairs did not reach

the state of eggs. The first to produce eggs was the Rainbow, which

nested in a barrel with no nesting material, and laid on 14th August.

The second egg was laid two days later. One young hatched on 6th

September, but the other egg failed to hatch. The young one died

at ten days, due, in my opinion, to leaving the unhatched egg in the

nest. This the parent birds tried to remove, and the breaking of the

very stale egg in the nest, covering the young with its contents, was

probably the cause of its death, as the parents fed well and the young

bird’s crop was well-filled when it died. The pair nested again in

another barrel, laying on 16th October. Both eggs this time were

thin-shelled and failed to stand up to bare nest conditions.


The Galahs had been making nests and tearing them to pieces for

weeks, when one pair settled down and laid on 21st August. Three

eggs were laid on alternate days. One was broken in the nest, one

young hatched on 16th September, and one on 20th September. This

last was a weakling, which I destroyed. The other chick did well,

and left the nest on 7th November—a strong bird, but here I nearly

lost it, as the parents immediately started rebuilding, and neglected

to teed it. It was practically starved in three days, so I took it away

and hand-reared it. It is now a spoilt pet of the house. This pair

nested again on two eggs in the same nest box, both eggs hatching on

17th December and the birds doing well. Another pair of Galahs

produced four eggs—all infertile. Another pair nested and laid on 21st

September, the second egg on 24th September. They did not sit for

several days. One young hatched on 19th October and the other on

20th October. Both were strong chicks and did well, the first leaving

the nest on 6th December, the other two days later. They were a



