354



The Marquis of Tavistock,



destitute of any affection for their owner. During the breeding

season and often at other times, paired birds fight savagely with all

members of their own and allied species, although they may tolerate

the presence of Parrakeets of other orders. Unmated cocks, how¬

ever, agree fairly well together, and it is sometimes possible to pair

two hens to one cock and breed from both at the same time,

provided the hens are on reasonably friendly terms, as is often the case

with a mother and daughter who have never been separated.

During incubation and for some time after the young are hatched,

the hen seldom or never leaves the nest. Hen Broadtails have

smaller heads and narrower beaks than cocks. The young often

breed when a year old, but do not obtain full plumage for eighteen

months.


ROSELLA PARRAKEET (Platycercus exiviius). —The com¬

monest and one of the most beautiful of the family. The adult hen

has the red area on the head and neck smaller than in the cock and

with much more ragged edges and behind the eye the red has a

greyish, washed out, tint. The presence or absence of a green spot

on the nape is not a very useful guide to sex, for while it is probably

true to say that it is never found on an adult cock, it is certainly

absent in the case of many adult hens. Young birds have a narrow

green bar running from the back of the neck to the centre of the

crown and show very little blue on the closed wing. Por turning

out, it is absolutely necessary to get tame, or half-tame adult cocks

-—the tameness of the hens does not matter so much. Newly

imported or young birds are inveterate wanderers when given their

liberty.


Yellow-mantled Parrakeet (Platycercus splendidus ). —

A local race of the Common Rosella with a yellower neck and wings

and brighter coloration generally. It is very rarely imported.


Mealy Rosella ( Platycercus pallicliceps). — Requires

careful treatment until it has completed its first moult in this

country, after which it is as indifferent to cold as any other

Platycercus. It is a satisfactory bird at liberty, wandering less

than many of its allies, and nesting readily either in barrels or

in natural holes in trees. It is very spiteful in disposition, showing

a special aversion to its cousin the Red Rosella and also to the



