Feathering Her Nest.....

For the last two days, the zebra finches,Winston and Lola, have been busy setting up housekeeping in the sunroom. They are building a nest in the little basket in their cage. Of course, I guess I should correct myself and say that Winston is building a nest. Lola is only pretending. All day long, Winston plucks the timothy hay that fills a hanging metal sphere in the cage and carries it to the nest basket where he arranges it in a neat cozy swirl. Meanwhile, Lola approaches the nesting material, cocks her head and seriously considers her choices. She delicately withdraws a single strand of hay and sits holding it in her beak. Then, as soon as Winston flies by on his way to the nest with a mouthful of hay, she nonchalantly drops her piece onto the floor of the cage. When Winston returns, she begins the whole charade again. Today she laid a single pearly white and perfect egg, not in Winston's carefully constructed nest, but on the floor of the cage where it broke against the metal grate. Winston, apparently does not notice Lola's ungrateful behavior because he is adding the final touches to the nest today with time outs to preen behind her neck and feed her bits of seed.