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The Marquis op Tavistock,



SOME EXPERIENCES OF KING

PARRAKEETS.


By The Marquis of Tavistock.


When the Editor first began to represent to me that it was

the duty of all good members of the Avicultural Society in general,

and of myself in particular, to contribute articles to the Magazine, I

told him that on the occasion of my first appearance in print I

wished to describe either a successful acclimatization experiment, or

else the breeding of some rare bird for the first time in this country ;

there might then be some chance of my article containing at least

one fact of novelty or interest. But success, as a rule, comes slower

than disaster, and the nesting operations of most members of the

parrot family—to which my own avicultural efforts have been

mainly confined—are peculiarly lengthy : also the exhortations of

the Editor, like the command of Nebuchadnezzar the King, wax

very urgent, so I have had to put my pride in my pocket and write

my experiences of a species which, unfortunately, is not to be

numbered among my successes.


The Australian King Parrakeet (Aprosmictus cyanopijgius),

although not very freely imported, especially in recent years, is

nevertheless too well known to need much description. It is a

large bird, nearly twice the size of a Kosella, with a long and rather

broad tail. The adult cock has the head, neck, and breast scarlet,

or scarlet tinged with crimson : the rump bluish black, and most of

the remainder of the plumage a uniform green. Across the wing

coverts runs a narrow band of pale verdigris which is often nearly

concealed by overlapping feathers of the prevailing darker tint, but

which can be very conspicuous if the wing is held at a particular

angle. On the nape of the neck is usually a patch of dark metallic

blue, the size of which varies greatly in different individuals, pro¬

bably according to the locality from which they come ; some have

hardly any blue at all.


The hen has no blue spot on the nape, and has the head,

neck, and upper breast green, and she usually, if not invariably,

lacks the verdigris bar on the wing coverts. In other respects her

plumage resembles that of the male. Young birds in immature



