144



Correspondence , Notes , etc.



collar and golden breast being the only distinguishing mark. Had she

lived over another moult, I believe the breast would also have become

scarlet. I am aware that a very old lieu past breeding will sometimes begin

to crow and assume the spurs and hackles of the cock, having had instances

in my own poultry 7 yard, but have never seen such a perfect example of

total change of plumage as this. I/. Sturton Johnson.


The following reply has been sent to Dies. Sturton Johnson:


It is not unusual for hen Gold Pheasants to assume almost entire

cock’s plumage, but your account is especially valuable as giving a record

of the process in the case you observed.


vSince writing the article you so kindly refer to, I notice that one of

the hens in the Zoological Gardens, though otherwise normal, has the two-

centre tail-feathers mottled as in a cock, not widely barred as they should

be for her sex.


Did your hen retain the dark eyes ? This seems to be, sometimes at

all events, the case when this change of plumage occurs. F. Finn.


[It would be interesting to know whether Mrs. Sturton Johnson’s hen

Golden Pheasant continued to produce fertile eggs after she had com¬

menced to assume the male plumage, or whether, as is generally the case,

the assumption of the male attire was a sign of barrenness.— Ed.]



THE FOOD OF PARROTS.


Sir, —Mrs. Sopp’s account of her caged Rosella and Mr. Bathgate's

letter about slieep-killing Keas give rise to some reflections. The Rosella

loved fat beyond anything: the Keas multiplied enormously after taking to

animal food.


A case was also once recorded in the Magazine of an Eclectus that

would kill and greedily eat a mouse, if one happened to stray 7 into its cage.


I called attention once before to a remark in Mr. Setli-Smitli’s

valuable work, Parrakeels, that one kind lives partly on insects.


Now any 7 one who has kept many Parrots will have come across cases

of, not feather plucking , but feather eating. The bird is bare enough of

feathers (the down is left) but you don’t find any feathers in the bottom of

the cage.


Neither Rosella nor Eclectus were the worse for their animal food:

the Keas thrive on it.


One hesitates to suggest animal food : it might be so easily overdone.

But it might be worth while trying with feather-eaters. And certainly in

their case it could do no harm, for I have never known them to live very

long. F. G. Dutton.


[It is remarkable how many Parrots one meets with which are fed on

a little of everything that conies to the table, and which evidently 7 thrive on

this diet, for they 7 are generally in fine condition, and often old birds which

have been family pets for a great number of years. The Parrots in the



