342



Lord Tavistock—Breeding Results for 1937



the tree-trunk nest as soon as it was put up in the aviary and for a

time all seemed to be going well. A few days later, however, it was

apparent that she was contemplating laying in the shelter, but by

shutting her out day and night I succeeded in forcing her to go back

to the tree-trunk. Four quite good young left the nest in due course,

but two subsequently fell victims to paratyphoid.


The third pair consisted of an old breeding cock and a hen acquired

about two years previously who had shown herself possessed of the

most marked antipathy to anything resembling a nest. For her special

benefit I reconstructed the aviary shelter so that it was little more

than a partly open-fronted shed in the corner of which she could lay

on the ground if she liked with a reasonable chance of her young getting

all the fresh air and natural moisture that immature Crimson-wings

require. The shelter, however, was not to her liking, and she deposited

her eggs on some wire netting on the floor of the front corner of the

flight. To this corner (much to her disgust, as it obstructed the view

she appeared to enjoy when incubating) we added some protection

at the sides and overhead, but it was of no avail, as the few eggs she

did not succeed in breaking proved to be addled.


A little later, however, she laid again, this time right in the middle

of the flight, where only some overhead shelter could be provided to

keep off the worst of the direct rain. She got very wet at times, but

did not appear to mind, and as all the wire netting she loved to place

her eggs on had been covered up, the clutch of three hatched and the

young did well for some time. Long before they were fledged, however,

they began to wander about, and to protect them from getting drowned

my aviary attendant confined them in an open-topped bottomless box

in a sheltered corner of the aviary. For some reason this treatment

did not appear to suit them. One did all right, but the other two,

which up to that time had been most robust, developed bad rickets in

their legs as soon as they began to feather. I gave them complete

liberty in the aviary, and in time they made a fair recovery, and were

good enough to dispose of as pets.


A pair of Rock Peplars came into breeding condition unusually

early—or rather the hen did, for the cock does not seem to possess a

very robust constitution. After some delay due to the cock’s temporary



