E. Valentine—Breeding of Goodfellows Blue-headed Parrot Finch 327


On the morning of the 29th they duly arrived, and needless to say

I was delighted with them.


I kept them in a cage indoors until 27th May, when the weather

became warmer.


Within a week they began to show signs of nesting, as did several

other birds which shared their aviary.


Unfortunately the weather again became very cold and wet and

all inclinations of nesting appeared to be put aside.


Towards the end of June conditions became more favourable and

I noticed the Parrot Finches busy with nesting materials. Meanwhile,

they had turned very wild and shy.


By the way, the nest when found later, consisted entirely of soft

hay.


For nearly three weeks I was never able to catch sight of the hen,

and saw very little of her mate during that time.


On Saturday, 31st July, I first suspected there might be young as

both the old birds were busy with the insectivorous food, and were

taking live ants’ eggs into the shelter. This went on all the next week

until Friday (6th August), when I discovered two young ones on the

grass plot in the open part of the aviary.


One of these birds was bigger than the other and appeared to be

perfectly feathered, the other had a bare tract from the throat down

to the abdomen.


Both birds showed the light (electric) blue ornamentations at each

side of the gape, as in young Oouldians.


After looking round, I discovered two more perching fairly high up.


Again one was much the larger bird, perfectly feathered, the other

the bare tract as in the case before mentioned.


In each case the beak was a feature, and appeared very substantial,

the upper mandible being dark in colour, the lower bright yellow.


The general colour was dull green when compared with the parents.


On Sunday, 9th, I noticed the bare tracts were completely covered,

and the ornamentations rapidly fading away. In a day or so these had

disappeared.


The yellow gapes were very prominent for some weeks, but now they

are dark just as in the parents.



