60



The Marquis of Tavistock,



cocks were very much greener than the hens from the time they left

the nest; probably, however, I have been wrong, and anyone who

has bred Redrumps will of course know what they look like in their

first plumage.


I wdll now deal briefly with such of the Platycercince as I

have kept, referring to what I consider the principal external sexual

differences and the degree in which they are apparent.


COMMON Rosella. Adult hen decidedly smaller than the cock

and with a smaller head and beak. Body colours usually less,

bright ; the red bib smaller and its edges much more uneven.

An adult cock is quite unmistakable, but it is possible to confuse

an adult hen with a young cock. The best way is to look at

the back of the head ; in most young birds there is a strip of

green about half inch wide, running from the neck right up on

to the crown. In old hens this is seldom noticeable, and the

green strip, if it exists at all, is shorter, irregular in outline, and

frequently edged with orange yellow.


Yellow-mantled Rosella. The only living specimen of this,

beautiful local race I have ever seen, was an old cock, till lately

in my possession. The sexual differences of plumage, size, etc.

would undoubtedly be the same as in P. eximius. In Gould’s

“Birds of Australia ” there is a figure of a parrakeet with an

almost entirely yellow head, which is described as an immature

P. splendidus. It is, however, very improbable that young

Yellow-mantles differ so remarkably from young Red Rosellas

as to possess yellow heads, and it is much more likely that the

bird from which the figure was taken was an abnormally-coloured

adult, possibly with a dash of Mealy Rosella in its pedigree. I

am, indeed, half inclined to think that Yellow-mantles are of

hybrid origin.


Mealy Rosella and Blue-cheeked Parrakeet. Cock rather

larger than the hen and a little brighter coloured. Head deci¬

dedly larger and squarer than that of the female.


BROWN’S Parrakeet. Cock a shade larger than the hen, with, in


* The males are easily distinguished, for amongst other differences, they

have some red on the rump. — E d.



