Hybrid Barraband and Queen Alexandra ParraJceets. 213


a spatulated feather on the third primary. The Queen Alexandra is

absolutely a Polytelis as much as is the Barraband and the Rock

Pebbler). At any rate, my male Barraband seemed to recognize

a close relation in a female Queen Alexandra which I reared last year,

1918. The result is two young ones, male and female, favouring the

father in colouring, but the colours are still those of nestlings. Later

on I hope to describe the adult bird.


The male is uniform bright green with a patch of orange-pink

at the base of the throat, and the same colour on the inner webs of

the tail.


The female has the tail of that colour, but not the throat, which

is green like the rest of her plumage. The mother wished to mate

with a bird of her own species who seems to be a confirmed celibate,

so she yielded to an earnest proposal from the Barraband, and the

result is what I suppose to be a unique hybrid. As yet there is no

indication of yellow or blue on the forehead of the male. That may

come later on. Which will it be ? Perhaps neither, but some

mixture.


[Mr. Astley writes on September 4 : “I regret greatly that

I have to send you the body of one of my hybrid Polytelis barrabandi X

P. Alexandra; Parrakeets. Both have died ! The bill was much

redder in life. I hope to have better luck another time.’"]



EGGS AND NESTLINGS.


By Graham Renshaw, M.D., F.R.S.E.


Some knowledge of elementary museum methods, if not actually

essential, is, at any rate, very helpful to the aviculturist; by which

term one designates, not the mere haphazard bird-fancier, who pursues

his hobby without plan or method, but the intelligent student of bird

life. Since in normal times we study the eggs and young of birds,

it follows that any method of preserving clear eggs, or any nestlings

that may die, is of the first importance. Only too often, it is to be



