Tke History of the Budgerigar. 125 



■ had stocked so many aviaries, and the prices then obtainable w.ne 

 •such an incentive to cage-breeding, that Dr. Russ estimates from 



• 10,000 to 25,000 Undulated Grass Parrakeets to be now bred annu.l.y 

 ' in Europe. 'A few years ago I have myself seen an aviary in Belgium 



• where from 500 to 800 Budgerigars had been bred every year in one 

 ' enclosure. 



" The largest importation of Undulated Parrakeets which ever 

 ■took place was that from January to July, 1879- One ship, the Hesperui^ 

 ' brought as many as 4,000 pairs, say 8,000 Undulated Parrakeets, safely 

 'alive to London, and one London dealet sold in four months 14,800 

 'pairs of these birds. The total importation of Budgerigars in Londoa 

 " was, in the first six months of 1879. over 50,000 pairs ; and they all 

 "found buyers. Prices certainly declined until a dozen birds could be 

 " bought retail for a guinea, and captains of Australian ships sold whole- 

 " sale at a shilling, or even less, per pair. 



" In the year 1862 the first specimen of this Parrakeet was de- 

 " posited ill the Zoological Gardens, and in 1879 this bird is nearly as 



*' tonimun a cage-bird as the Canary Surely no other cage-bird is 



" equally frugal as the Budgerigar. A little canary-seed is all he te- 

 " quires, and even the accidental absence of water will not inconvenience 

 *' him in the least. The organism of these birds is adapted to live in 



•■ the oftentimes waterless plains of Australia. Thousands are 



" brought to Kurope annually without rei,ei\itig .1 drop of water during 

 " the three or foui iiKinths' voyage (i.e. fOFty yearS agO. E.H.) :ind strange 

 " to say, fewer birds die on the voyage when kept without y\'ater, than 

 *■ of those which are supplied with water. After arrival the case may 

 " be different ; and I more than suspect that of those birds which have 

 ' made the voyage from Australia to England without tasting water, 

 '"a good many die after arrival. It cannot be natural that a bird should 



" live very long on hard, dry seed without any moisture whatever 



" Sometimes a shipment arrives with a loss of only two to five 

 '■per ceni.. and in aiiotlier season tlie mortality during the voyage may 

 ' be fifty jier cent and even more. There have been seasons when dis- 

 " ease became epidemic, and nearly ail Undulated Grass Parrakeets died 

 " during the voyage or soon after ; and a quite unusual mortality was 

 " then observed among Budgerigars of former seasons, and beyond 'lie 

 " rcacli of direct infection. This, as well as the fluctuating import ac- 

 " counts for the rapid fluctuations in the price of this favourite bird 

 " durin}.', one se.isun. In the early jiart of 1879, Budgerigars could be 

 " bought retail at three shillings per pair, but sold readily a little later 

 for ten shillings. One would have thought that dealers would hasten to 

 buy every shipment offered at the low prices for the Undulated Parra- 

 '■ keets only arrive between January and July— and would have kept them 

 " until their price rose again. But the experience of former years had 

 " taught dealers that it is far better to sell rapidly at a small profit in 

 '" pieferencc to risking an epidemic and consequent total loss of the capi- 

 " tal invested. The birds imported in 1879 proved unusually healthy and 

 " anyone huying them might have re-sold them within three months at 



