THE AUSTRALIAN GRASS PARRAKEET. 



{Melopsittacus undulatus. ) 



This beautiful little bird is not only 

 one of the prettiest, but is also the most 

 common and best known of the smaller 

 parrakeets. It is the Budgerigar — a 

 word which means pretty bird — ^of Aus- 

 tralia, where it is widely distributed and 

 quite common. It is quite closely related 

 to the ring-necked parrakeet, which the 

 naturalist Cuvier thought was probably 

 the first of the parrot tribe to become 

 known to the Greeks and Romans. It 

 is a native of India and a portion of 

 China, and may have been introduced 

 into southern Europe at the time of the 

 Indian conquests of Alexander. The 

 ring-necked parrakett possibly is also the 

 bird to which Pliny referred in the fol- 

 lowing passage : "But above all, there 

 are some birds that can imitate the 

 human voice; the parrot, for instance, 

 which can even converse. India sends 

 us this bird, which it calls by the name 

 of 'sittaces ;' the body is green all over, 

 only it is marked with a ring of red 

 around the neck. It will duly salute an 

 emperor, and pronounce the words it has 

 heard spoken ; it is rendered especially 

 frolicsome under the influence of wine. 

 Its head is as hard as its beak; and this, 

 when it is being taught to talk, is beaten 

 with a rod of iron, for otherwise it is 

 quite insensible to blows. When it 

 lights on the ground it falls upon its 

 beak, and by resting upon it makes itself 

 all the lighter for its feet, which are 

 naturally weak." 



The bird of our illustration belongs 

 to the sub-family of the parrots known as 

 the broadtails, a group of birds confined 

 to Australia, New Zealand, New Cale- 

 donia and the Society Islands. The par- 

 rots of this group are called the broad- 

 tails because of the breadth of the 

 feathers of the tail. The Australian 

 Grass Parrakeet differs from nearly all 

 the other species of the group in having 



the ends of the elongated feathers of the 

 tail more attenuated. This species also 

 bears other common names, such , as the 

 Australian Love Bird, the Undulated 

 Grass Parrakeet, and the Shell Parrakeet. 



The sexes are nearly alike in colora- 

 tion, but the male may be distinguished 

 from the female by the dark color of the 

 cere, or membrane at the base of the 

 upper mandible of its bill, that of the 

 female being of a light brownish cream 

 color. This Parrakeet is said to be very 

 abundant in the vicinity of Adelaide, 

 Australia, where it may be seen in large 

 flocks, either perching on the gum trees 

 or feeding on the ground. In its wild 

 state the seeds of grasses form its prin- 

 cipal food, though it will also eat other 

 seeds. Because of the nature of its food 

 the parrakeet seizes it with its beak and 

 does not gather it with the feet, as do 

 many other species of parrots. It is said 

 that no nest is built by this species, but 

 that the eggs are laid in holes of trees 

 in which no lining is used. 



The male's song is a sort of warble 

 which is not entirely free from melody, 

 and is uttered quite constantly during 

 the day. In many localities this Parra- 

 keet is a popular cage species and it 

 breeds freely while so confined. While 

 readily tamed, it is said that this little 

 Parrakeet ''is always apt to bite severely : 

 while it is also an undesirable inhabitant 

 of an aviary, on account of its propensity 

 to attack and disable smaller birds." 



At times these little birds become 

 greatly attached tO' those who care for 

 them. A gentleman who carried one of 

 these Parrakeets from Australia to Eng- 

 land, says the bird suflfered greatly from 

 the cold and change of climate. It was 

 protected by a kind-hearted weather- 

 beaten sailor, who kept it warm and 

 comfortable in his bosom. It was not 

 transported in a cage, but roamed at will 



