Notes on the Grcot-billcd Parrakcet. 151 



have found all my Great-bills alike in this respect. They are 

 not vicious birds, but they dislike being approached by strangers 

 of whose character and intentions they know little, and show 

 their annoyance by contracting the pupil of the eye, making a 

 snarling noise and lunging clumsily with their beaks. 



The Great-bill was a rapid flyer and could turn and twist 

 on the wing with considerable dexterity ; but he was not quite 

 as fast as the Alexandrine, and both were far inferior to the 

 Barraband's Parrakeet. who is as graceful as a swallow and as 

 swift as a homing pigeon. Unfortunately, having no female 

 companion of his own kind (the hen was at that time too ragged 

 to turn out) the Great-bill grew restless and took to wandering 

 further and further afield, until one day he failed to return and 

 was not heard of again. 



The second cock was not a success at liberty. The first 

 day I released him he flew straight away and was captured, and 

 returned to me in an exhausted condition. I kept him in an 

 outdoor aviary and did not let him out again until the following 

 March, having previously brought over the two remaining birds 

 which had been wintered in a cold birdroom. Although glad 

 to see his companions he again flew straight away and was 

 brought back by a boy the same night. The gardener very 

 foolishly put him in a cage on the ground in an open summer 

 house, into which a snowstorm blew all night, and next morning 

 the poor bird was in a dying condition, as was not surprising! 

 The surviving pair were unable to fly owing to their wing 

 feathers being much worn, and I let them climb about the trees 

 (which they did not damage), leaving the aviary open; they 

 always returned to it to feed and roost. The summer passed 

 uneventfully until I provided my solitary Blue-faced Lorikeet 

 with a cock Red-collared as a mate. A single lorikeet is not 

 of much account as a fighter, but a pair are deadly, owing to 

 the way they back each other up. Within twenty- four hours 

 they had killed my breeding cock Banded Parrakeet as he was 

 trying to defend his nest, and defeated every other parrakeet at 

 liberty, after which they turned their attention to the Great-bills. 

 The cock's size and huge beak were no defence against the 

 combined onslaught and he was soon hurled to the ground 



