The Marquess of Tavistock—Breeding Results of 1938 345


the cock driving the hen about a lot in the way they do when they mean

real business. It is possible that the nest-boxes were too big, as Blue¬

bonnets prefer their breeding accommodation to be very much on

the small side.


The pair of Barnard’s Parrakeets, imported last year, never properly

settled down, or took to a nest, and finally dropped into moult. The

remaining pair reared three nice young ones.


Brown’s Parrakeets nested rather early in the year, and the hen

hatched one of the three eggs laid, and reared a nice young cock.

She nested again after an interval of several weeks, and hatched another

strong young one, but allowed it to die through giving up brooding it

too soon. She herself was bred on the Continent a few years ago.


Rock Peplar Parrakeets came into breeding condition early in the

year, and although for a long time the hen seemed very discontented

with the natural tree-trunk with which I provided her, she eventually

condescended to make the best of a bad job, and three strong young

ones were reared.


Barrabands proved a disappointment. The hen of one pair, pur¬

chased from an English dealer during the winter, had looked a little

bit doubtful about the eyes from the time of her arrival, but it was

only in May wfhen she should have been coming into breeding condition,

that she developed definite eye-disease. She is still alive, but her

case has proved a very intractable one, and has entirely failed to

respond to the perchloride of mercury treatment which is often

successful in curing this troublesome ailment.


The other pair of Barrabands also proved a disappointment, for the

cock, although a breeding bird in former seasons, and apparently

much attached to the hen, persistently refused to pair with her, and

the four eggs were infertile. I tried her with another cock, but she

did not nest again.


Late in the summer I obtained an imported pair of Princess of

Wales’ which, as this species not infrequently does, came into breeding

condition almost immediately after arrival. The hen laid a large

number of eggs, both in a nest in the flight and on the floor of the

aviary shelter, but proved completely hopeless as a parent, and

broke nearly all of them. Owfing to the season of the year, no



