THE PARROTS 125 



Possibly, however, the Macaw deals with the nut in 

 the way that Mr. Wallace tells us the Black Cockatoo 

 manages to split open the hard canary-nut — by a mixture 

 of biting, sawing, and crushing. 



The PARRAKEETS are quite an important branch of 

 the Parrot tribe. They are the dwarfs of the family, but 

 some of them are as vivid in their colouring as any of 

 their big relations. 



Best known of all, perhaps, to the readers of this book 

 is the lovely little Grass Parrakeet, so often sold in joairs 

 in this country under the name of Love-birds. They 

 belong to Australia, where they are to be found on the 

 grass-lands, at a distance from the coast. Mr. Gould, 

 the naturalist, speaking of his travels in New South Wales, 

 says, " I saw them in flocks of many hundreds, feeding 

 upon the grass seeds that are there abundant. So 

 numerous were they, that I determined to encamp upon 

 the spot in order to observe their habits. . . . The nature 

 of their food and the intense heat of the plains compel 

 them frequently to seek the water. Hence my camp, 

 which was pitched near some small fords, was constantly 

 surrounded by large numbers, arriving in flocks varying 

 from twenty to a hundred or more." 



They fly straight, and swiftly. And when they migrate 

 from one district to another, as annually they do, the 

 concourse is quite an impressive one. 



They are very common in the neighbourhood of 

 Adelaide, where they perch on the gum trees but feed 

 on the ground. 



Two other species are the Red-shouldered Parrakeet 

 and the Broad-tailed Parrakeet, both of which are natives 

 of South Australia. 



The COCKATOOS belong to the vast island-continent 



