24.8



Practical Bird-Keeping. — IV. Parrakeets.


four to six white eggs to a clutch, and producing three or four

broods in a season. Both sexes share in incubation, the cock

sitting by day and the hen at night, and incubation is commenced

witli the first egg.


Canary, hemp and oats are the only seeds required,

although these, and, in fact, all parrakeets require green foot!.


The Broad-tailed Parrakeets ( Platycercus ), of Austra¬

lia, are mostly quite hardy, brightly-coloured and very desirable

birds for an aviary. They require the same food as that recom¬

mended for Cockatiels. Each pair should have a compartment

of an aviary to themselves, and if provided with suitable nesting

accommodation and left undisturbed, will probably breed. The

following species belonging to this group may be mentioned.

The Rosella (P. eximius ), Pennant’s Parkakeet (P. el eg an s).

the Mealy Rosella (P. pallidiceps ), the Stanley Parrakeet

( P. icterotis), Brown’s Parrakeet ( P. browni ).


The genus Psephotus contains some of the most beautiful

and desirable of the Australian Parrakeets. The best-known

being the Red-rump (P. heematonotus), a hardy and free-breeding

species. The Many-coloured Parrakeet (P. multicolor ) is

fairly hardy, and has been bred by several aviculturists. While

of the rarer species there are the very distinct Blue-bonnet, of

which there are two races (P. xanthorrhous and P. hcematorrhous),

the Beautiful (P. pulcherrimtis), the Golden - shouldered

( P. chrysopterygius) and the recently-described Hooded (P.

cucullatus ), the three last mentioned being extremely rare and

rather delicate.


There are many other desirable seed-eating Parrakeets in

Australia, such as the King ( Aprosmiclus cyanopygius) and

Crimson-wing (Ptistes erythropterus), the Alexandra ( Spat hop-

terns alexandrcs) and Barraband's ( Polytelis barrabandi ), as well

as the beautiful Grass Parrakeets of the genus Neophema.


South Ameiica contains a large group of Parrakeets known

as Connies, most of which are comparatively hardy and easily

kept on a simple seed diet and green food. They are not so

popular as the Australian Parrakeets, nor, as a rule, are they

such free breeders.



