THE ZooLtocist—OcToBER, 1872. 8239 
the Australian is an unwritten language, it can only be written 
phonetically: “betcherry” or “ budgeri,” meaning “good ;” and 
“gah” or “gar,” “little;” so they are “ good-littles” or “little- 
goods,” a not inappropriate term for these gems of aviary-birds. 
As regards the incubation of parrakeets,—the Australian species, 
at least,—I have observed a curious fact I have never seen noted: 
there are certain genera, of which the cocks, not merely during the 
breeding season, but at all times, feed the hens, in the same 
mauner as a pigeon does its young; whilst there are others in 
which this practice does not occur: amongst the former are 
budgerigars, turquoisines, red- or blood-rumps, the elegans, 
Paradise parrakeets, &c.; amongst the latter are king parrots, 
crimson- or red-wings, rosellas, cockateels, &&. Now the curious 
circumstance to which I refer is this: that among those in which 
the hen is fed by the cock, the hen only undertakes the duties of 
incubation, the cock frequently flying up to the entrance to 
the nest, and tenderly and lovingly feeding her. In the other 
class, the cocks and hens mutually share the incubating labours or 
pleasures between them: in these cases the hen sits all night; the 
cock takes her place during the forenoon, giving it up to the hen 
in the middle of the day for a short time, and resuming it in the 
afternoon till evening, when the hen takes up her position in the 
nest for the night. Where the hen is the sole incubator, she quits 
the nest for only a few seconds daily, and generally in the 
evening. In both cases | believe that each bird feeds the young. 
I have been very unfortunate in the rearing of budgerigars: just 
as they are able to fly and leave the nest, they have been most 
viciously killed,—in one case by the cock, in another by the hen. 
The last brood I had, just as they were leaving the nest the cock 
was most assiduous in his parental duties, feeding them most 
attentively ; but whenever he flew up to the cocoa-nut nest, up 
dashed the hen after him, screaming like a perfect virago, and 
seizing him by the head, neck, or wing, both would come tumbling 
to the ground together; in short, watch as he would to slip into 
the nest, she was too wary for him; and I was obliged to catch her 
and shut her up in a cage, when the cock most energetically con- 
tinued his duties, and fed the young till they were able to take 
care of themselves ; but somehow or other they were unable to fly, 
and had curiously distorted legs: and after remaining, some for 
weeks, others for months, at the bottom of the aviary, they 
