on Adelaide Parrakeets.



75



■with the ex-invalids The disgusted Pennant departed with all pos¬

sible despatch and was never seen by us again.


The pair of Adelaides had not been together long when the hen

in her turn vanished, and as they had shown no particular signs of

nesting, I imagined that she had followed the Pennant’s example

and that she was lost for good. About this time I received two

more Adelaides from the Continent. They were fine birds, but the

cock proved so insufferably pugnacious that I ultimately sent him

away. The hen I turned out, hoping that she would mate with the

broken-winged bird and prevent him from straying in search of a

wife. She stayed well enough, but to my surprise he took very little

notice of her. Then one day she killed herself by flying against

something—and the outlook seemed gloomy in the extreme. How¬

ever, a few days later, the tide of fortune turned, for after an absence

of about seven weeks the first hen re-appeared, and I saw her in

company with the cock, feeding busily on one of the trays. For

the next fortnight the pair were constantly together and seemed to be

•eating an such abnormal amount of seed, that at length I began to feel

convinced that there must be “ something up.” There w r as ; for one

day came the satisfactory news that the young Adelaides had made

their appearance, and on going out I found four—there ultimately

proved to be six—sitting in a yew tree, uttering their plaintive call

for food. No doubt they had been out of the nest for some time

before we found them, but young Platycercines are not easy to

locate at first as they do not fly far, are very silent except when

hungry, and harmonize perfectly with the green foliage among which

they sit. Their plumage is, from the moment they leave the nest,

wonderfully sleek and perfect, not a feather frayed, ruffled or out of

place, and their soft colours, dainty heads and beaks and dark eyes,

give them a beauty hardly less attractive than the splendour of

the adults. The old birds continued to feed their offspring for

several days; then, evidently considering they were quite old enough

to look after themselves, they became at first indifferent towards

them, and, before long, actively hostile. Unlike Kosellas, Stanleys

and Barnards, Adelaides are, as far as my experience goes, single-

brooded, beginning to moult very soon after the young are able to

fly and never attempting to nest again during the same season.



