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on Breeding of the Rock Pebbler Parrakeet.


“Mr. W. White, Reedbeds (South Australia), whose roomy

aviary contains many beautiful Parrots, has a handsome Black¬

tailed Parrakeet which has reared several clutches of young

Cockatoo Farrakeets. As soon as they were hatched by their

proper parents they were handed over (evidently by mutual

consent) to the Polytelis.”


My pair commenced nesting early in April, and what I

noticed very particularly was the very quiet way they set about

it. There was none of the screaming and fighting which

Rosellas, Pennants, and Barnards invariably indulge in (unless

they are separately housed), but the hen quietly slipped into an

unoccupied tree-hole, the same tree by-the-by the Leadbeater

Cockatoos had previously reared their family in, and there she

remained, sitting very closely, and totally ignoring the frequent

efforts of the Pennants and Rosellas to displace her.


The eggs (five) are very similar to other Parrakeets’ eggs,

round and pure white.


The young were hatched in the usual time, but remained

a good deal longer in the nest than the Barnards or Rosellas, a

week or ten days at least; and for some days before they flew

their little soft heads were constantly to be seen at their window,

until one, anxious to see more of the fascinations of the world,

fell or was pushed out, and lay frightened and helpless on the

grass. He was quite unable to fly or even perch, and crawled

away to some logs to find a safe hiding place. The remaining

two tumbled out—I cannot say flew—two days later, and for

some days were equally helpless.


And now comes the weak point in my pretty birds’

character; the hen, although a good nester and sitter, was not

an energetic mother; the cock totally ignored the entire family,

with the result that two out of the three young birds died.


In a small aviary this would probably not have happened ;

my aviaries are large ; it would take a certain amount of exertion

on the part of the parents to find and feed three youngsters who

were themselves incapable of running after the old birds ; added

to which the nights were cold and the days very wet; and so,

being unable to fly, they caught a chill and quickly succumbed.



