258 Lord Tavistock—■The Breeding of the Gang-Gang Cockatoo


plum and cherry scales, cutworms, weevils, and other destructive

pests. Not content with all this helpful work it takes weed-seeds in

considerable amount and some wild fruit There is not a shred of

evidence that this bird touches cultivated fruit. Another species

is the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. This most beautiful little bird has a

pleasant song resembling that of the Robin. In his spring plumage

the male looks a gay little fellow, his rose-red breast, with pure white

below and his smart black back, tail, head, and wings give him a dressy

appearance. The female presents a somewhat dull appearance not

unlike that of the Sparrow-stripings. In autumn male and female are

much alike in colouring, the distinction being a slightly warmer

colouring and an under-colouring of rose-red on the breast of the male.

This bird nests in bushes or low standing trees, is a poor builder,

putting together a loose untidy affair of fine twigs, rootlets, and weed-

stalks. It haunts tangled thickets and large trees, woodland clearing

along the rivers, and sometimes orchards. It is, indeed, invaluable to

the potato farmer, as it eats potato-bugs and other insect pests.

Investigation of its food habits has revealed that the Black-headed

Grosbeak eats three times the insect food to what it eats of vegetable

food, the insects including codling moth, canker-worm, and several

kinds of scale. It should be carefully protected if only for its great

economic value.


[We shall hope to give a second paper on some of the birds of Canada.)


THE BREEDING OF THE GANG-GANG

COCKATOO


By Lord Tavistock


A few years ago I received a young pair of Gang-Gangs. The hen

was a nice bird but the cock was a useless creature for not only was

he pinioned (which was not his fault), but he was also a confirmed biter

of his mate’s plumage and, in a lesser degree, of his own. I finally gave

him away and last year obtained the loan of a cock from the Zoological

Gardens. The new arrival was not too promising in appearance as he,

too, had been much plucked and was said to be a plucker and, from

long confinement in a cage, he was quite unable to fly. However, he



