224 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



coverts, the almost entirely blue cheeks, the yellow 

 tinge of the upper breast, the greener tinge of the lower 

 breast and abdomen and of the base of the two central 

 tail-feathers. Female apparently differing in its less 

 swollen upper mandible. Hab., North Australia, from 

 Port Darwiji to Rockingham Bay. 



Nothing seems to be known respecting the life-history 

 of this bird ; an example was received in exchange at 

 the London Zoological Gardens in 1887, and in the fol- 

 lowing year no less than ten examples were deposited 

 there. 



Th© Red-mantled Parrakeet {Platt/cercus erythro- 

 pej)lus) is 'now known to be nwrely a hybrid between 

 Pennant's Parrakeet and the common Rosella. It first 

 reached the London Zoological Gardens in 1890. 



Brown's Parr.\keet {Plati/cercus browni). 



Feathers of bade and scapulars black bordered with 

 pale yellow ; those of the rump and upper tail-coverts 

 pale yellow, with the concealed baees and fringes black ; 

 a, black patch on the wing-coverts ; anterior coverts from 

 bend of wing downwards, base of primaries, and outer 

 webs of secondaries, blue; the last inner .secondaries 

 edged with pale yellow ; inner webs of flights black ; 

 central tail-feathers blue, tinged with green at base, 

 the others with the base of inner webs brown, of outer 

 ■webs deep blue, beyond which they ai'e pale blue with 

 Mack sihnfte and white tips; cix)wn, \oves. and ear- 

 coverts black ; cheeks white, bounded by blue belovv ; 

 'feathers of breast and abdomen pale yellow, with black 

 •concealed bases and fringes ; under tail-coverts scaa'let ; 

 under wing-coverts blue ; bea.k pale horn-colour, becom- 

 ing blue at bafo; feet blackish-brown; irides blackish- 

 IjTown. Female pixibably differing as in the other 

 ■species. Hab., North Austi-alia, from Port Danpin to 

 I'ort Essington. 



Grould observes (" Handbook to the Birds of Aus- 

 tralia," Vol. II., p. 53): "This is a very abundant 

 species on the northern and north-western coast of 

 A^letralia, where it inhabits gras-sy, meadow-like land 

 and the edges of swamps, and mostly feeds upon the 

 ■seeds of grasses and other plants ; sometimes it is seen 

 in pairs, but more frequently in families of froani ten 

 to t^wentv in number. It frequently utters a rapid suc- 

 cession of double notes resembling ' trin-xe trin-se.' Its 

 flight is low. somewhat rapid and zigzag, seldom further 

 prolonged than from tree to tree." 



The nidification of the species appears to be still un- 

 •described. Brown's Parrakeet. known in Australia as 

 th© Smutty Parrakeet, appears to have been first, exhi- 

 ibdted by Mr. Fulljames in 1899 ; in 1900 four examples 

 were d>sposited at the London Zoological Gardens; in 

 1901 a few w^re imported, and Mr. Seth-Smith secured 

 a pair, which I had the pleasure of seeing in his aviaries. 

 The cock bird eventually fell out with bis wife, and 

 ■would have murdered her if thev had not been .seimrated. 

 In 1902 the Hon. Walter Rothschild htid a pair; the 

 Tien la^id eggs. In 1903 an example was exhibited at the 

 Crystal Palace. 



EosELL-4 P.iHRAKEET {Plati/ccrcvi' cximius). 

 Orown of the head, back of neck, chest, and under 

 tail-coverts .crini.«on ; cheeks white ; the feathers of the 

 baok black, bordered with rich yeUow; the rump, upper 

 tail-coverts, and lower belly pale green ; the centre of 

 telly yellow ; the shoulders and middle of wing blue, as 

 also the edges of tlie primaries, which are otherwise 

 dark brown ; the two central tail-fe:ithei-s green with 

 bluish tip.s; the remaining tail-feathers dark blue at 

 l)ase, shading into light blue ^beyond and tipped with 



white ; the beak horn-colour ; legs and iris of eye brown. 

 Female smaller, slightly duller in colouring, often, if 

 not invariably, with a small round green spot on the 

 crimson of the nape, 'not an irregular patch (as eome- 

 tim'es occurs in male birds) ; the beak shorter and rather 

 narrower at the base. Hab., S.E. Australia, from Wide 

 Bay district to Victoria, and Tasmania. 



The natural resorts of this bird, according to Gould, 

 are " open pan-ts of the country, undulating grassy hills 

 and plains bordered aaid studded here and there ■with 

 large ti-ees or belts of low acacias or banksias, among 

 the branches of which, particularly those of the acacias, 

 it may l>e seen in companies. In a word, districte of a 

 sandy nature, small plains. oi>en spots among the hills, 

 and thinly-timbered country where grass abounds, con- 

 stitute its natural habitat. It is constantly to be seen 

 on the public roads, and, upon being disturbed, will 

 merely fly to the nearest tree or the rails of wayside 

 fences. Its natural food consists of seeds of various 

 kinds, especially grasses, and occasionally insects and 

 caterpillars. It's flight is short and undulating, rarely 

 extending more than a quarter of a mile, the bird fre- 

 quently alighting on a leafless branch, always flying a 

 little below it and rising again .just before settling." 

 The Rosella breeds in holes in the branches of trees, its 

 breeding season being from October to January ; it lays 

 from five to nine eggs. 



The Rose Hill Parrakeet, popularly called the 

 "Rosella," is the best-known species of the genus 

 J^lali/cercu-''. It is a common bird in Australia, and is 

 laj'gely imported into this country, where, on account of 

 its gorgeous colouring and cheapnesis, there is a large 

 demand for it. both as a cage and aviary bird. In 

 Europe it has frequently been bred in aviaries. Any- 

 one wishing to breed it should provide a commodious 

 log nest, and, after the young are hatched, bread soaked 

 in cold water and pressed nearly dn- .■should be supplied 

 to the parents. From what I have seen of this species, 

 I should expect to have no difficulty in persuading it 

 to pair either ^-ith a hen of its OWTI species or any other 

 of the same genus. 



I had a male of this species given to me about 1889 

 or 1890. I found it noisy, but not unpleasantly so ; only 

 a slightly irritating sound, a soi-t of incessant arra- 

 cJiari-n-chal-arra, or something to that eft'ect, and if I 

 whistled to him he always accompanied me with that 

 sound ; when, however, he heard my Persian Bulbul 

 singing he used to stand up, stretch his neck, spread 

 his tail, and utter a long whistle. He nvade assiduous 

 love to a Red-cre.sted Cardinal in the aviary 'with him, 

 and seemed puy.zled that she seemed unwilling to accept 

 his attentions. 



Being i)erfectly hardy, and indift'erent to cold, this 

 bird may be kept either in or out of doors. 



The first example recorded as having been exhibited at 

 Regent's Park was presented to the London Zoological 

 vSociety in 1861 ; after that no more were received rmtil 

 1866, when half-a-dozen were deposited; in 1868 two 

 were presented, and after that one or more examples 

 came to hand almost annuaUy, the last recorded in the 

 ninth edition, of the list being presented in 1895. 



Yellow-m.^ntled P.\rrakeet {Plati/cercus spleiididus). 

 Differs from the preceding ej>ecies in having no yellow 

 on the nape, the borders of the feathers on the back gam- 

 boge-yellow instead of greenish-yellow ; the rump, upper 

 tail-coverts, and lower abdomen pale verdigris-green in- 

 stead of yellowish-green ; beak horn-colour ; feet m'ealy- 

 brown ; irides dark brown. Female probably differs in 

 the less swollen character of the upper mandible. Hab., 



