248



Rev. H. D. Asteey,



THE PRINCESS OF WALES’ PARRAKEET.


By the Rev. Hubert D. Astley, M.B.O.U., etc.


I do not find these birds as delicate as Mr. Fulljames found

them, when he possessed a pair some few years ago. A pair that

I now have are in magnificent plumage and condition; and

readily eat seed of all kinds, as well as lettuce, chickweed,

dandelions, and other green food. I also give them “Marie” or

“ Albert” biscuits soaked, and squeezed fairly dry, and this they

are also very fond of.


Mr. Fulljames originally wrote in this Magazine and said

that the male bird only occasionally indulged in unwelcome

“ vocal villainies.” This is not my experience. My male bird

screams from mere fun and from exhilaration of spirits, and it is

a pity that his voice isn’t as lovely as his appearance. I think it

would rival a Nightingale’s if it were ! Not seldom it represents

the tune played by a “Punch and Judy” showman; at other

moments, it is not unlike the warbling of a Budgerigar, but of

course louder.


I find that this Parrakeet likes apple very much, and will

probably eat other fruits in season ; so that taking so readily to

such a varied diet, one would think they ought to thrive.


I fear I do not think that the coloured plate in our Maga¬

zine (September, 1899, Vol. V., No. 59) does justice at all to this

most beautiful bird. The whole outline is too scraggy, and the

general character is lost, not to mention that the feature of

the male bird, the spatulated wing feather, is conspicuous by

its absence !


They are most gracefully shaped, and their colouring is

indeed beautiful, with the opaline tints of pale blue and pink, and

olive grey-green, and the brilliant grass green shoulders. I

wonder why, just because a bird happens to grow a peculiar

shaped feather in the wing, it should be given a separate generic

name? The Princess of Wales’ Parrakeet is very evidently of

the same group as the Barraband (.Polytelis barrabandi ) and the

Rock Pebbler (/*. melanura). Because one brother or cousin in

a family has a snub-nose, and another a Roman nose, it doesn’t

make him of a different genus !



