x INTRODUCTION. 



scarcely to be exceeded in any ornithological work, at least of a popular 

 character, with which we are acquainted. 



In conclusion we would remark that many people now keep Parrots, and 

 many more are desirous of doing so, but very few of those persons under- 

 stand how their favourites should be treated, and are pained and surprised 

 when the poor things die soon after passing into their possession. An owner 

 of a Parrot bereaved in this sudden and unexpected manner is apt to blame 

 the dealer from whom he purchased the bird, the friend, or book, that 

 advised him to feed it after such and such a manner, in a word, any one 

 but himself, who, in ninety-nine cases out of one hundred, is the only one 

 to blame. 



It stands to reason that a Parrot, especially a young one, taken suddenly 

 away from the crowded cage in the dealer's shop, where the warmth and 

 society of its companions, and often their friendly mouthfuls of food thrust 

 generously into its own, will take cold, and mope and pine, when placed 

 in a cage, and too often a draught, by itself. The better plan is to buy 

 at least two birds and place them, at first, in the same cage, open only in 

 front, and by degrees accustom them to more air and freedom ; after a while 

 they may be placed in open cages, side by side, and when, at last, they 

 seem to be thoroughly acclimatised, they may, if the owner does not want 

 them both, be separated, and the least desirable of the two sold, usually 

 at a considerable advance upon the purchased price. 



Poeta nascitur non fit, said Horace long ago; similarly a true bird-fancier 

 has the love of the feathered portion of creation born in him without doubt; 

 at least such is our own case, and if in the following pages, and our other 

 works on the subject, we have been of even a little use to our favourites, 

 by teaching their owners how to treat them better than they had previously 

 been able to do, we feel that our labours have not been in vain. 



W. T. G. 



Moira House, Surrey, 



