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Patagonian Couure often caged near them. Then, as to distinction iir

plumage: “Monsieur” has a longer tail and a bluer shade of green

about the head than “Madame,” who is all over of a lovely bright apple-

green : he has, too, a visible, though quite faint, tinge of red on the upper

part of the breast, where, in the adult male, the scarlet ring should be.

Both have orange-scarlet down on tlietliighs, and their under-tail feathers are

of a lovely shade of old rose. From this I concluded, on getting a sight of

Gould’s “Synopsis,” that they must both be hens: for it is there stated

that only the hen has orange thighs and rose-coloured under-tail feathers;,

and the cock depicted in Dr. Greene’s book has an entirely green tail.

There seems, however, to be a good deal of doubt about the characteristics

of the species: for originally Vigors believed the two sexes to be two'

distinct races; and Gould asserts, in the “Birds of Australia,” as I have

since discovered, that some males have scarlet thighs, though he makes no

mention of the rose-colour in the under-tail of either sex. Possibly, as in

the cases of man}? species, young cocks are not easily, if at all, distinguish¬

able from adult hens. At present, my pair show little signs of moulting,

though I am anxiously looking out for them, in the hope of seeing

“Monsieur” gradually assume his yellow forehead and scarlet upper-

breast.


As to their food and treatment. To their former rather monotonous

diet of boiled maize, I soon added hemp. I also give them boiled rice and

brown sugar; figs (which they throw about and don’t care for) and meal¬

worms, of which they are very fond. Their taste for these has been gradually

acquired, as is the case with others of my Australian Parrakeets. They

are fairly hardy, and rejoice in their large cage being put out in a

verandah, or, during great heat, on a shady lawn ; but I have not, by

any means, found them unconscious of cold, as is sometimes asserted. In

Autumn, even under the glass of a verandah, they used to ruffle their

feathers when it turned cold, and ask, unmistakably, to be taken indoors.

They delight in bathing, and when a shower conies on, pretend to splash,,

and plead to be put out; a fancy which, in warm weather, I often gratify.

Through the Summer, I constantly give them, and all my other Parrots,

willow twigs : they simply revel in them, and carefully suck every leaf.


Not long ago, “Monsieur” escaped during the night through an open

window, and was at large for a day and a half. Strangely enough, he did

not take himself to the verandah or terrace, where the Parrots spend the

day, and where he could hear them all day; but to big trees, in a distant

part of the grounds. Here, he enjoyed life much, quietly exploring

among the branches, and continually throwing down leaves. He specially

rejoiced in some very large willows which I believe he took for his-

native gum trees: hanging, at times, backwards, in the most elegant way,

from flimsy twigs. The first day, he only took short flights, and frequently

flew towards me ; but by the morning of the second day, I almost gave him

up in despair, for he made circles of upwards of a mile, flying with the

strength and rapidity of a Hawk or a Homing Pigeon. However, after

each flight, he settled where he could see me or one of the attendants of

my aviaries, and evidently had a strange mental conflict between his delight

in liberty and his desire to come to me. All this while he would generally

answer a human imitation of his whistle; but never took the least notice

of the cries of his companion, who was carried about in her cage in the

vain hope of enticing him down. At last, from high in an oak tree, he

darted down, and several times flew almost on to my shoulder, and then

settled on a low bough, to which I could just hold up an empty cage. He

climbed on to it, and I soon lowered the cage and enticed him into it with a

mealworm.


I relate all this to show that Barrabands have much character and

intelligence. If any of your readers have chanced to see a male bird in his-

first modest green plumage, I should be very glad to know if he corresponds-

with my description of “ Monsieur.”



