IIO OUR HOME PETS 



is desirable, to the food preferred. No fruit, 

 or green food of any description, should be 

 given to a newly-arrived bird. 



If your bird has black eyes he is young, in 

 spite of his venerable appearance and man- 

 ners. He must, it is said, be fed for a time on 

 corn that has been chewed by his keeper, as 

 that is the diet he gets from the sailors , but 

 this should be inquired into when buying 

 one. 



One thing must not be forgotten : neither 

 parrot nor cockatoo is a safe companion for 

 other cage birds, or for birds at liberty in the 

 room with them* There seems to be war to 

 the knife on the part of the parrot family tow- 

 ards all the smaller tribes of its kind. 



The cockatoo belongs to the parrot family 

 in the books, but in several respects he is 

 quite different from the parrots. He is a 

 more beautiful bird, being, as we find him in 

 the cage, either snowy white, with lemon or 

 sulphur color in his elegant crest, or of a deli- 

 cate rose -pink hue. There are rare species 

 who dress in black, but not one wears the gay 

 and often glaring colors of the parrots. 



Then, again, he is an affectionate fellow. 



