Practical Bird-Keeping .— VIII. Parrots.



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see that bird swoop round and round for two or three minutes at

a time, shrieking with joy and exuberance of spirits, is delightful.

If possible the larger Parrots and Cockatoos should be trained to

come on the hand, or at any rate on a stick, when they can be

waved up and down to make them flap their wings. They will

soon learn what they are intended to do, and look out for these

gymnastics.


I know a lover of Parrots, who always takes Macaws and

Amazons for walks in the garden. They are chained to perches,

and after removing them from the latter, he will put them on the

ground, holding their chains, and allowing them to walk in the

wet grass, or else sit on an old stone wall, where they sun them¬

selves and chew mortar.


A Double-fronted Amazon which I have, loves to be taken

on a personally-conducted tour like this, and when he is put on

a railing and syringed, he brings his wings completely forward

in front, so that they actually meet, whilst he ducks his head

down on to his breast beneath his wings, as much as to say, “ I

like it on my wings, but I cannot stand it in my eyes and mouth.”


Certain species of Parrots must necessarily be kept in

artificial heat during the cold months of the year, but it is

astonishing what some, which one would think might be delicate,

can stand.


As for the nesting of Parrots in an aviary, the fewer there

are the better, and in some cases one pair only is advisable. If

the aviary is large enough, and they can be obtained, old hollow

limbs of trees put up upon cross beams are helpful towards

encouraging the birds to breed, but there are many ways of

making nesting-boxes.


Parrakeets like to get into semi-darkness to lay their eggs,

and if they can whittle the natural rotten wood within, all the

better. Whatever the hollow is, it must not be too spacious or

flattened where the eggs will be laid, or they may roll out beyond

the parent bird. It is best to put nesting boxes of various sizes

and shapes, for what one pair of birds may take a fancy to,

another may not.


All Parrots nest in hollow logs or banks, laying their eggs

in a depression on rotten and chipped wood, except perhaps the



