224 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



coverts, the almost entirely blue cheeks, the yellow 

 tinge of the upper breast, the greener tinge of the lower 

 breast and abdomen and of the base of the two central 

 tail-feathers. Female apparently differing in its less 

 swollen upper mandible. Hab., North Australia, from 

 Port Darwin to Rockingham Bay. 



Nothing seems to be known respecting the life-history 

 of this bird ; an example was received in exchange at 

 the London Zoological Gardens in 1887, and in the fol- 

 lowing year no less than ten examples were deposited 

 there. 



The Red-mantled Parrakeet (Platyccrcus erythro- 

 peplus) is now known to be merely a hybrid between 

 Pennant's Parrakeet and the common Rosella. It first 

 jeached the London Zoological Gardens in 1890. 



BROWN'S PARRAKEET 



lirowni}. 



Feathers of back and scapulars black bordeTed with 

 pal yellow ; those of the rump and upper tail-coverts 

 pale yellow, with the concealed bases and fringes black ; 

 a black patch on the wing-coverts ; anterior coverts from 

 3>end of wing downwards, base of primaries, and outer 

 webs of secondaries, blue ; the last inner secondaries 

 edged with pale yellow; inner webs of flights black; 

 central tail-feathers blue, tinged with green at ba,se, 

 "the others with the base of inner webs brown, of outer 

 webs deep blue, beyond which they are pale blue with 

 "black shaft* and white tips ; crown, lores, and ear- 

 coverts black; cheeks white, bounded by blue below; 

 'feathers of breast and abdomen pale yellow, with black 

 concealed bases and fringes; under tail-coverts scarlet; 

 under wing-coverts blue; beak pale horn-colour, becom- 

 ing 'blue at base; feet bl ackish -brown ; irides blackish- 

 T>rown. Female probably differing as in the other 

 species. Hab., North Australia, from Port Darwin to 

 Port Essington. 



Gould observes (" Handbook to the Birds of Aus- 

 tralia," Vol. II., p. 53): "This is a very abundant 

 species on the northern and north-western coast of 

 Australia, where it inhabits grassy, meadow-like land 

 and the edges of swamps, and mostly feeds upon the 

 seeds of grasses and other plants ; sometimes it is seen 

 in pairs, but more frequently in families of from, ten 

 to twenty in number. It frequently utters a rapid suc- 

 cession of double notes resembling '1rin-vi' triii-xt 1 .' Its 

 flight is low, .somewhat rapid and /ig/ag, seldom further 

 prolonged than from tree to tree." 



The nidification of the species appears to be still un- 

 described. Brown's Parrakeet, known in Australia as 

 the Smutty Parrakeet, appears to have been first exhi- 

 bited by Mr. Fulljames in 1899 ; in 1900 four examples 

 were deposited at the London Zoological Gardens; in 

 1901 a few were imported, and Mr. Seth-'Srmth secured 

 a pair, which I had the pleasure of seeing in his aviaries. 

 The cock bird eventually fell out with his wife, and 

 would have murdered her if they had not been separated. 

 In 1902 the Hon. Walter Rothschild had a pair; the 

 hen laid eggs. In 1903 an example was exhibited at the 

 Crystal Palace. 



ROSELLA PARBAKEET (Plat y car cus eximius). 

 Crown of the head, back of neck, chest, and under 

 tail-coverts crimson ; cheeks white ; the feathers of the 

 back black, bordered with rich yellow ; the rump, upper 

 tail-coverts, and lower belly pale green ; the centre of 

 belly yellow ; the shoulders and middle of wing blue, as 

 also the edges of the primaries, which are otherwise 

 dark brown ; the two central tail-feathers green with 

 bluish tips; the remaining tail-feathers dark blue at 

 t>ase, shading into light blue beyond and tipped with 



white ; the beak horn-colour ; legs and iris of eye brown. 

 Female smaller, slightly duller in colouring, often, if 

 not invariably, with a email round green spot on the 

 crimson of the nape, not an irregular patch (as some- 

 times occurs in male birds) ; the beak shorter and rather 

 narrower at the base. Hab., S.E. Australia, from Wide 

 Bay district to Victoria, and Tasmania. 



The natural resorts of this bird, according to Gould, 

 are "open parts of the country, undulating grassy hills 

 and plains bordered and studded here and there with 

 large trees or belts of low acacias or banksias, among 

 the branches of which, particularly those of the acacias, 

 it may be seen in companies. In a word, districts of a 

 sandy nature, small plains, open spots among the hills, 

 and thinly -timbered country where grass abounds, con- 

 stitute its natural habitat. It is constantly to be seen 

 on the public roads, and, upon being disturbed, will 

 merely fly to the nearest tree or the rails of wayside 

 fences. Its natural food consists of seeds of various 

 kinds, especially grasses, and occasionally insects and 

 caterpillars. Its flight is short and undulating, rarely 

 extending more than a quarter of a mile, the bird fre- 

 quently alighting on <a leafless branch, always flying a 

 little below it and rising again just before settling." 

 The Roeella breeds in holes in the branches of trec- 

 breedhig season being from October to January ; it lays 

 from five to nine eggs. 



The Rose Hill Parrakeet, popularly called the 

 "Rosella," is the best-known species of the genus 

 /'liifi/i-i'/-ni.t. It is a common bird in Australia, and is 

 largely imported into this country, where, on account of 

 its gorgeous colouring and cheapness, there is a large 

 demand for it. both as a cage and aviary bird. In 

 Europe it has frequently been bred in aviaries. Any- 

 one wishing to breed it should provide a commodious 

 log nest, and after the young are hatched, bread soaked 

 an cold water and pressed nearly dry should be supplied 

 to the parents. From what I have iset-n of this species, 

 1 should expect to have no difficulty in persuading it 

 to pair either with a hen of its own species or any other 

 of the same senus. 



I had a male of this species given to me about 1889 

 or 1890. I found it noisy, but not unpleasantly so ; only 

 a slightly irritating sound, a sort of incessant arra- 

 charra-cnakarra, or something to that effect, 'and if I 

 whistled to him he always accompanied me with that 

 sound ; when, however, he heard my Persian Bulbul 

 .singing he used to stand up, stretch his neck, spread 

 his tail, and utter a long whistle. He made assiduous 

 love to a Red-crested Cardinal in the aviary with him, 

 and seemed puzzled that she seemed unwilling to accept 

 his attentions. 



Being perfectly hardy, and indifferent to cold, this 

 bird may be kept either in or out of doors. 



The first- example recorded as having been exhibited at 

 Regent's Park was presented to the London Zoological 

 Society in 1861 ; after that no more were received until 

 1866, when half-a-dozen were deposited*; in 1868 two 

 \M n> presented, and after that one or more examples 

 came to hand almost annually, the last recorded in the 

 ninth edition, of the list being presented in 1895. 



YELLOW-MANTLED PARBAKEET (Platycercui f^l 



Differs from the preceding species in having no yellow 

 on the nape, the borders of the feathers on the back gam- 

 boge-yellow instead of greenish-yellow ; the rump, upper 

 tail-coverts, and lower abdomen pale verdigris-green in- 

 stead of yellowish-green ; beak horn-colour ; feet mealy - 

 brown; irides dark brown. Female probably differs in 

 the less swollen character of the upper mandible. Hab., 



