A. Martin—The Breeding of Leadbeater $ Cockatoo



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Magazine and his capabilities worthy of infinite respect. Mr. Phillips

is singularly gifted, and takes anything in his stride—Finches, Fly¬

catchers, Warblers, and Wagtails. One may see such birds as Crows,

Starlings, Shrikes, Wagtails, Chats, Nightingales, Wrens, Thrushes, and

Wading birds, all finger tame and in perfect condition. A few years

ago an article was published in Cage Birds on breeding the Wren.

The article, complete and full, was written by the breeder. I, for one,

am sorry not to have heard more of this fancier’s activities, since with

so many of us our enthusiasm does exceed our capabilities. If any

of our members insist on keeping their findings to themselves we

are likely to fall short of our objective. May the writer suggest it

would be helpful if fanciers would hand over surplus birds to other

members.



THE BREEDING OF LEADBEATER’S

COCKATOO


By kind permission of Mrs. Bunn

By A. Martin


During the late summer of 1936 Mrs. Dunn purchased a very fine

pair of the above species. As I had never had a true pair of these birds

under my care before I was very anxious to see what they would do in

the way of breeding. Early in 1937 a large aviary, specially built for

them, was erected. During early March a natural log was placed in their

flight, and very quickly they became interested. During April eggs

were laid and two young were hatched. The birds seemed to be feeding

very well and I had great hopes of having young Leadbeaters for the

first time ; but disaster was in store for me. Going into the enclosure

one morning when the young were about fourteen days old, I saw two

young Leadbeaters lying on the grass with their heads almost severed ;

it was no doubt the work of the old hen. So ended our first try at

breeding Leadbeaters. About three weeks later they again went to nest,

and this time I thought I might perhaps try my hand at feeding the

young myself if only the parents would rear them to about ten or



