on Foreign Birds at Benham Park. 231


In a most conveniently fitted up bird-room was a pair of

Meyer's Parrots, delightfully tame birds, the male of which

allowed almost any liberty to be taken with him though his mate

was not so trustworthy. A pair of the very rare Rock Grass-

parrakeets, Neophema petrophila, occupied a cage here, from

which they were to be transferred to an outdoor aviary when the

weather was more suitable than during the first few days of May

when my visit was made. Four specimens only, I believe, of

this charming little parrot were brought home by Mr. Wallace in

April, and so far as I am aware no others have ever reached this

country alive. It belongs to the "Elegant" group of Grass^

parrakeets and Mr. Astley pointed out to me its long and sharp

claws, apparently for the purpose of clinging to rocks, and its

long tarsi. It breeds in the crevices of the rocks. A third

specimen was in the outdoor aviary, the fourth, a weakly bird,

having died shortly after its arrival. There are six Stanley, or

Earl of Derby's Parrakeets in the Benham Park collection, some

in this bird-room and others in the garden aviary. A pair of

Yellow-winged Sugar-birds occupied a cage here and were in

beautiful condition ; but perhaps the rarest bird in the whole

of Mr. Astley's fine collection was a small Parrot from South

America, which he calls the Violet-bellied Parrot Triclaria

cyanogaster. It is a bright green bird with a large patch of violet-

blue on the abdomen and bright reddish-brown eyes. I have

never before seen or heard of an example of this species in

captivity. Mr. Astley's specimen is a male, as the female lacks

the violet patch. The species is said to be confined to South-

eastern Brazil.


In the conservatory was a beautiful pair of gear's Macaws,

tame and gentle as they are rare, but Mr. Astley has already

given us an account of these. A fine Blue Whistling Thrush

{Myiopkoneus temmincki') occupied a large cage by himself, while

others were tenanted by Port Lincolns (four) Crimson-wings

(four) and a female Pileated Parrakeet (Porphyrocephalus spurius).

One pair of these beautiful parrakeets arrived from Western

Australia in April and were secured by Mr. Astley, the male was

in perfect condition while the hen was somewhat rough in feather.

Both were doing well when by some means they contrived to



