CHAPTER XL. 



I His is a very different kind of bird from the last, 

 not as showy, perhaps, but immensely more desirable 

 as a pet in every respect. 



It is a native of Western Australia and sufficiently 

 common there, but not often imported. It is said to 

 be delicate and difficult to preserve in confinement, 

 and to a certain extent this is true, but once it has 

 become acclimatised and used to the new surroundings 

 and conditions of life to which the inhabitants of Britain 

 have to conform, the Pileated Parrakeet is not one to 

 look behind it. 



It is quite correct that the various specimens that 

 have made their appearance at the Regent's Park 

 Gardens from time to time did not stay there 

 very long, but that is not much to go by. I know a 

 lady who possessed one of these birds for fifteen years 

 and then it succumbed to old age and nothing more, 

 and I had, or preserved, in perfect health and condition 

 another for nearly as long, when I was obliged to get 



