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The Blue-crowned hanging Parrot.



roomy aviary with abundant shelter if they chose to avail themselves

of it; this, however, they never did, but persisted in roosting and

hanging on to the wires of the most exposed part of the aviary. I

eventually managed to fix a slate over their favourite roost, and that

was all the shelter they ever had. They both moulted out that

autumn, and, as I expected, the small bird proved to be a male, the

base of the feathers on the throat showing scarlet, also the feathers

on the rump became intensified in colour. We took them in that

autumn and they spent the winter in the house. In the spring

they were again let loose in the aviary and in the autumn moulted

out, the young cock now assuming full adult plumage. The follow¬

ing spring they paired, and the hen built a nest in a deep hole in

an old apple tree. I have before described the display of the cock,

and how the female carried long strips of green aucuba leaves into

the hole, the strips of leaves being inserted into the feathers of the

upper tail coverts.


Although the hen sat practically the whole summer, and the

eggs were fertile, no young were hatched. These proceedings went on

year after year until the late autumn of 1915, when in a terrific storm

the door of the aviary was burst open and the little cock was whirled

away and never seen again. The hen was left in the open aviary all

that winter and is there still, having survived these dreadful freezing

gales, and is apparently in perfect health. I notice a few things in

connection with this, viz. that in very cold weather she does not

hang up, but roosts in the ordinary way ; also that as her sop quickly

freezes she only has a good fill of it twice a day, and makes up with

plenty of seed ; the seed is not shelled, but is nibbled up and eaten,

only a little dust remaining.


It is evident that these parrots are easily kept and much

hardier than is usually supposed, but they must be acclimatised.


I think them unsuited for a cage ; they are extremely dirty

birds and also seem to like a great deal of exercise. They have

pleasant gentle voices, but ours never became really tame.



