some Experiences of King Parrakeets.



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plumage are like their mothers, but are said to have the tips of the

tail-feathers pink. I am very much inclined to think that the young

cocks can be distinguished from the hens by the verdigris wing bar

above mentioned, which they certainly possess at a very early stage,

if not actually at the time they leave the nest. Whether the young

females also possess these light green feathers or not I cannot

absolutely say, but I should consider it most unlikely that they do.


In build, the King Parrakeet bears a close resemblance to the

Crimson-wing, and also to the magnificent members of the genus

Pyrrhulopsis, which are unfortunately so rarely imported. It has

little affinity to the Platycerci, either in form or manners, and it is

difficult to understand why the old writer Greene desired to place it

among them. The tail is long and broad it is true, but it is quite

different in shape from that of the Kosella and its allies: and

although the bird can and does spread it at times, it is quite unable

to shake it in the manner so characteristic of nearly all the Platy-

cercines. In fact the King resembles the latter in one respect only,

viz., in its voice, the whistling call-note and sharper screaming cry

uttered when the bird takes wing, both reminding one considerably

of the notes of some members of the broadtail family.


The first King Parrakeet I remember seeing was kept as a

cage-bird in our house about eighteen yeai’s ago and was ultimately

given away to a friend in Scotland. He was reasonably tame, but

not a particularly interesting pet (none of the larger Australian

parrakeets are really suited to cage-life, i.e. they do not show to

advantage in close confinement), and the whistling of “Pop goes

the weasel ” was I believe his only accomplishment. He ultimately

died of sunstroke.


The next King, whose acquaintance I made, has had a more

varied and interesting career; also, unlike too many of his relations

I shall soon refer to, he is still alive and well. He came into my

possession during the summer of 1911, and on arrival was turned

into a large grass enclosure with a cut wing, together with a number

of other Australian parrakeets which I intended for an experiment

in acclimatization. By the time that the autumn moult had restored

his powers of flight he had become accustomed to his surroundings,

and for a while showed little disposition to stray from the garden.



