Sovie Hints on Parrot-Keeping.



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and oats, with fruit and green stuff. The Palceornidae do well in

cages and keep in far better condition than the Australian Parra-

keets. The cocks are not difficult to tame and make nice pets, some,

such as the Indian King-neck, learning to talk well if taken from the

nest and reared by hand. Palseornis Parrakeets are not very

susceptible to infectious diseases and the majority can safely be

wintered out-of-doors, although it is not always prudent to allow

them to attempt to breed at low temperatures, as the hens are

rather subject to egg binding. Most species have an immature

dress which they wear for a considerable period, during that time

they are most puzzling birds to sex. The palceornidce are not

unduly quarrelsome.


Malaccan Long-tailed Parrakeet (Palceornis longicauda).

—Deserves special mention on account of its extreme sensitiveness

to cold. It should never be exposed to a temperature below 60 deg.

and 70 deg.—80 deg., would probably be necessary for the success of

a breeding experiment.


Great-billed Parrakeet (Tanygnatlms megalorhyncus).

—Food : Canary, millet, wheat, oats, hernia, paddy-rice, fruit, and

nuts. This brilliantly coloured and grotesque bird is not often

imported. It certainly cannot be described as beautiful, but makes

an attractive addition to a collection on account of the oddity of its

appearance and its absurd actions when tame. It is generally

supposed to be sensitive to cold, but some newly-imported Great-aills

I turned out this spring in very rough plumage, endured a spell of

cold weather (including sharp night frosts) without the slightest

injury. The hen is more “ dumpy ” in build than the cock, with

a shorter neck and smaller beak.


POLYTELIS PARRAKEET. —A small genus of Australian

Parrakeets bearing a strong'resemblance to the Palaeornidce of the

northern hemisphere and having nothing in common with the broad¬

tails. They are fairly peaceable birds and can be wintered out of

doors in a sunny, sheltered aviary. The food should consist of

wheat, oats, canary, millet, a little hemp, fruit and green food.


Crimson-winged Parrakeet (Ptistes erythropterus ).—

A very beautiful bird which has of late been freely imported.

Crimson-wings should be fed on hemp, canary, millet, wheat, oats,



