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What Parrots he is thinking of, when referring to Love¬

birds, whom he mentions as living in South-Eastern Asia and

the adjacent Islands, I do not know; unless it is the sub-family

Nasiternince, or Pigmy Parrots, which live in New Guinea, and

which have never been brought alive to England ; or the genus

Loriculus, or Hanging Parrots, which range from India and the

Philippine Islands through the Malayan region. Neither of

the above two groups have any connection with the genus

Agapornis.


The members of the latter genus may be distinguished

from those of the genus Psittcicula b}^ their rounded instead of

pointed tail feathers. The two genera also differ from one

another in their nesting. The Parrotlets nest in holes and lay

their eggs on the bare wood ; but the Lovebirds take possession

of the nests of other birds, such as Weavers, for their own

use. Those who have been fortunate enough to breed them

in captivity tell us that they line their nests with twigs, bits

of straw and bark, etc., which the hens carry up to their nest-

boxes by putting them between the feathers of their rump.


The confusion between the two genera has arisen on

account of their small size (the Parrotlets being the smaller) ;

and also on account of their both having short tails : in which

respect they differ from all the other species in their respective

sub-families. Internally they also resemble one another, in that,

in the skeletons of both, the furcula is absent.


The genus Agapornis only contains seven species, so that

it cannot be called a very large one.


There is an interesting fact concerning the Parrotlets,

which has come to my knowledge just recently. A gentleman

of my acquaintance tells me that he has kept a Blue-winged

Parrotlet eighteen months in a cage by himself; whereas, we

have been told that these birds will only live in pairs.


I am glad I have had an opportunity of pointing out, and,

I hope, correcting these very common mistakes; at the same

time, I must again apologize to Mr. Cresswell for having

criticised his article, but it is only pro bono publico , and for

that reason I crave his pardon.



A REPLY.


By O. E. Cresswepp.


I should like to write a few lines in answer to Mr.

Castellan’s friendly criticism of a paragraph in my article on

my Parrakeets, in the Feathered World.



