46 



At our late Show, as Mr. Swan and I were 

 responsible for feeding and looking after the foreign 

 birds, we had to be at the Crystal Palace fairly early, 

 and Tig used to see me long before I saw him, and 

 call out, and use every means in his power to attract 

 my attention, and show how pleased he was to see me. 

 He keeps in very good condition, but always has 

 to be assisted at moulting times with the quills on his 

 head — this is a very ticklish operation and upsets Tig's 

 dignity for days. I take him out of the cage (with 

 gloves on) and just rub each quill separately between 

 the finger and thumb. When they are once broken he 

 very soon gets into perfect condition again. Perhaps 

 some of our members who make more of a study of 

 Parrakeets than I do can tell me why these quills do 

 not burst spontaneously. I feed him on canary and 

 sunflower seeds, with a little hemp seed occa- 

 sionally. He is very fond of a piece of banana, and I 

 sometimes give him a small piece of bread or biscuit 

 which he at once takes and dips in his water before he 

 eats it. There is no fear of overlooking him at 

 feeding time, for if you pass him over he does not 

 forget to remind you. 



I should think the profit made in importing birds 

 of this species must be considerable. I am told 

 that in their native country they are to be bought for 

 a coin which represents 2i^d., and at the time I 

 purchased mine the market price was about 30/-. 

 Now-a-days they are to be had for 15/- each, but as 

 they are very hardy and travel much better than most 

 birds, probably but few are lost on the journey. 

 So somebody must make money out of them. 



The Orange-flanked Parrakeet is a native of Peru 

 and Ecuador. The female resembles the male, but is 

 stated to be slightly smaller. 



