3164 Tur Zootocist—Aveust, 1872. 
I may add the following conjectural conclusions, which are the 
result of additional observations :— 
5th. That the female sits all day. A rather careful series of 
observations on pigeons leads me to the conclusion that the female 
usually sits eighteen hours, including the night, and the male about 
six hours, always by day, that is, from 10 a.M.to4p.M. In like 
manner whether any relief is given by the males of these little 
parrots I have not ascertained, but I think not. 
6th. Feeding the young seems to be performed much in the same 
" way as in pigeons; the young ones push their little beaks between 
the mandibles of the old ones very nearly at the base, 4nd there 
receive food which seems to have been prepared in the stomach 
of the parent and pumped up for this purpose; on no occasion did 
I see the parents take food from the pans, take it to the nest, and 
drop it into the mouths of the young ones, as is the usual manner 
of passerine birds. The parent parrots were fed a good deal on 
bread and milk, and I assume that this, after passing into the 
stomach of the parent, was disgorged for the use of the young; 
their other food is canary-seed, oats and hemp-seed, with occasional 
fresh grass-seed and groundsel. 
The young parrots for some weeks after leaving the nest have 
the yellow forehead transversely barred with delicate dark lines, in 
the same manner as the crown and back of the head in adults. 
These little birds possess every quality desirable in cage-birds: 
beautiful in colour, graceful in form, gentle and affectionate in 
disposition, subdued and pleasing in their song; in this latter 
respect totally differing from most other parrots. They delight in 
a swinging perch, and seem to enjoy swinging in every conceivable 
attitude, not unfrequently back downwards; on one occasion when 
one was swinging rather violently, another caught him by the tail, 
and thus united they swung together. Nothing can be imagined 
prettier than their love-making; the billing and cooing of pigeons 
must yield to it, but I think the prettiest sight is when one gently 
scratches the poll of another with the extreme point of his beak ; 
the female, which sex is generally honoured by this attention, 
closing her eyes, bending down her head, and appearing to be in 
the very plenitude of enjoyment. 
But I hope to find time as well as space to return to my Bird 
Cage again and again. 
EpwarD NEWMAN. 
