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Mr. D. Seth-Smith,



with young. Further on, we come to the most important col¬

lection of all. Here was a range of some eight or nine aviaries,

most of which contained but one pair of birds. In the first

was a most interesting family of Many-colours ( Psephotus vmlti-

color), a pair, with three young ones, just out of the nest.


The Rev. C. D. Farrar reared one young bird of this

species in Yorkshire last year, but I believe no others have been

reared until these three. At the time of my visit, however, three

tiny balls of fluff occupied a nest-box in my own aviary, and

these are now developing into three fine Many-colours, so Mr.

Fasey’s are not the only young birds of this very lovely species

bred in England this year. Last year Mr. Fasey’s birds hatched

two young ones before Mr. Farrar’s celebrated medal-winner

was hatched, but the excessive cold of May killed them.


We looked long and lovingly at these three little beauties ;

two showing distinctly that they belonged to the masculine

gender, by a faint yellowish tinge on the wings, and an indica¬

tion of green on the face. The third was an undoubted hen.

The fact of the sexes of the young being easily distinguishable

at so tender an age is a great point in this bird’s favour as an

aviary bird, if indeed it has not already enough good points to

recommend it. Mr. Fasey and I quite agreed that there could

hardly be a Parrakeet more charming in every way than this.


In the next compartment was a nice pair of Blue Bonnets

(.Psephotus xanthorrhous ), which had been scraping about a

good deal in their nest-box, with a view, let us hope, to a

family.


Three beautiful Turquoisines (Neofihema pulchella), a cock

and two hens, were in the next aviary. Why is this Parrakeet so

seldom seen now-a-days? With the Turquoisines was a cock

Stanley, or Yellow-cheeked Parrakeet ( Platycercus icterotis), a

rare and extremely beautiful species from Western Australia.


Then we came to the gems of the collection, in the form

of a pair of the exquisite Golden-shouldered Parrakeet

(.Psephotus chrysopterygius), a species about which nothing had

been heard for fort}'- years until a few turned up in the flesh

some six years ago.



