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I have not found this species delicate, although it inhabits

a hot region. My pair were kept indoors during the winter

months, but were transferred to an outdoor aviary in May, where

they did not seem to feel at all discomforted by the December-

like weather which prevailed during a great part of that month.


They are lively and engaging birds, and at times whistle

very prettily. The cock is, I regret to say, occasionally, a little

troublesome with the other birds; he has up to the present

committed four murders,—a Chinese Quail, a Red-backed Bunt¬

ing, a Zebra-finch, and a Budgerigar. I have often seen the

pair examining nest boxes, but they have not, as yet, decided

upon one for a future brood.


Canary, millet, hemp, oats, sunflower, and such like seeds

form the staple food of my ‘ Browns.’ They are not especially

fond of fruit, except grapes, of which they ate a number in the

winter, when green food was scarce. Their favourite green food

seems to be chickweed, a bundle of which is now supplied to

them every day.


Although not so brilliantly clad as some of the Platycerci ,

I consider the “Smutty Parrakeet,’ as the Colonists call it, one

of the most beautiful of the genus; a genus which, I must say, I

am very fond of, in spite of the fact that some writers have called

them ‘uninteresting’ and ‘unintelligent.’



BREEDING THE MANY-COLOURED PARRAKEET.


By the Rev. C. D. Farrar.


I hardly like to remember now how many years it is since

I possessed my first Many-Colours. I remember distinctly the

first time I ever saw any alive. It was at a shop in the West

End ; and by their sick and sorry look they reminded me at once

of the chant of the Roman gladiators, “ Ave, Csesar, morituri

te salutant.” As, I believe, the price asked was £\o, I did not

invest in them, but I fell desperately in love with them. It was

a genuine case of love at first sight, and I made up my mind, if

I could ever afford it, to get a pair.


Many-Colours are very hard to get and still harder to keep.

Only a very few come over every year, and these are eagerly

snapped up by rich people at prohibitive prices.


The first time I had a chance of any was about five years

since. A friend who used to go to Sydney wrote to me from

Port Said that he w r as bringing over six Many-Colours: four



