THE FLAT-TAILED PARRAKEETS. 243 



greatly. The diet, of course, consisted chiefly of seeds — canary 

 seed, millet, hemp, oats, and maize. The voice of the Rosella 

 is a pleasant piping. The male utters a short but rather varied 

 song, the female only a low soft call, and a loud, clear note of 

 warning, both of which latter, however, are also peculiar to the 

 male. The latter dances a love dance, holding himself upright, 

 having the feathers of the neck and head erected, and the tail 

 outspread like a fan, and raising his body with a quick backward 

 motion, accompanied with clear, ardent notes. A full-grown 

 Eosella cannot live peaceably with its equals or other birds." 

 Mr. Bargheer has, from two couples, annually bred several 

 broods, each of three to five nestlings. Strangely enough, the 

 parrakeets always began to build their nest in our spring. 



Though I may willingly agree that the Rose Hill Parrakeet, 

 if treated with more attention and affection, will become a 

 pleasant companion in a room, yet I should by no means be 

 justified on that account in giving it a place in the present 

 work ; but at the house of Mr. Holtz, postal secretary, of 

 Leipzig, I myself heard a Rosella which said, " Papa," 

 f' Mamma," "Ella," and mixed up other words with its own 

 strange natural chatter. Moreover, we have accounts of several 

 talking Rosellas, but I consider it unnecessary to repeat them 

 here. Of course, this species reaches a much higher value if 

 there is a hope of training the young home-bred birds at once 

 to become good speakers. For the purpose of teaching it is 

 certainly most advantageous to choose from the miserable- 

 looking, tailless, half-fledged, dirty young birds of a grey colour, 

 which have been newly imported. 



CHAP, cm.— THE RED SHININa PARRAKEET. 

 Psittacus splendens, PI. 



Shining Parrakeet or Parrot, Fidji Parrakeet (Ger., Purpur- 

 sittich, gldnzender Purpursittich, Glanzsittich, Fidschisittich, 

 rather Pompadour sittich, pur purr other Plattschweifsittich; Fr., 

 Perruche pourpre de Fidji, Perruche 2^ou7yre hrillante ; Dut., 



^ Purper-roode Fidji- ParJcief) — Beauty and Rarity — Description 

 ^—Habitat — Character in Captivity. 



As described on page 237, the Platycerci belong to the 

 most richly coloured and variegated of all parrots, and the 



e2 



