The Faradise Parrahcet. 171 



months will alone avail : towards autumn they must be grad- 

 ually weaned off to seed and boiled rice, sweetened with honey 

 or syrup: to try and keep them on seed alone will nearly 

 always end in disappointment. 



Dr. E-uss gives the following recipe for feeding these birds, 

 which I mean to strictly follow next time I make up my 

 mind to invest in a pair: — ''Canary seed, millet, hemp, and 

 oats, together with 'egg-bread', boiled rice, fresh or dried 

 ants' eggs, sweet ripe fruit, cherries, straw- and raspberries, 

 grapes, dates and figs." 



The scientific name is Fsephottis pidcherrimus, and the Ger- 

 man der Paradiessittich; I am not acquainted with its French 

 appellation. 



So far I do not believe that these birds have been bred in 

 Europe, although recently aviary-bred specimens have been 

 advertised. Dr. Russ had a hen that produced several eggs, 

 and that, I think, is the full extent to which the domesti- 

 cation of this beautiful species has proceeded so far. 



The price of the Paradise Parrakeet has declined somewhat 

 of late years, in consequence of aviarists declining to pay the 

 large sums asked for birds that only lived a few weeks, or 

 at most months, after coming into their possession, and they 

 can now be purchased for about two sovereigns a piece, which 

 is, however, much too high a price to pay for them at present, 

 and until we are better acquainted with their habits and re- 

 quirements in captivity. 



They are natives of ^ew South Wales and Queensland. 



