SPLENDID PABBAKEET. 101 



for the importation of a rare bird is sure to cause a flutter in the 

 breasts of connoisseurs, who rush to purchase it with one accord, as 

 soon as its advent has been made known, when the dealer has only 

 to name, in order to obtain his price for the phenomenon: and even 

 in those rare cases where the sum demanded is beyond the limit of 

 even the largest private purse, our "Zoo", or one of the continental 

 Zoological Societies is certain to step in and secure the prize, no matter 

 at what enormous figure, or, as the French say, "prix fou." 



A Grass Parrakeet, or seed-eater, the Splendid Parrakeet is not a 

 difficult bird to keep, so that the £10 or so given for him is much 

 more safely invested, than if risked upon a couple of pairs of Paradiseas, 

 or Many-coloured Parrakeets. Canary, millet, and oats should form his 

 staple diet; a handful of sweepings from the hayloft thrown into the 

 aviary will afford him amusement in picking out the seeds, as well as 

 a welcome change of food; and, should he chance to go to nest, as 

 he probably would, if lodged according to his notion of the fitness of 

 things, dry crumb of bread should not be forgotten; a little hemp is 

 permissible, as a variety, now and then, and the same may be said of 

 flax and maw-seed: tufts of flowering grass in the season, or a bunch 

 of half-ripe French millet will form an agreeable change in his bill 

 of fare, but must not, at first, be supplied with too lavish a hand; 

 groundsel tops and dandelion flowers he is also fond of, while migno- 

 nette in blossom, or just commencing to seed, will be much appreciated. 



Lodged and fed as recommended, we have no doubt the Splendid 

 Parrakeet would soon cease to be the vara avis of our collections, for 

 he would then certainly breed, and, ere long, we should be almost, if 

 not altogether, independent of a foreign supply for this charming bird, 

 now so rare that we venture to say not one in ten of our readers has 

 ever seen it alive; for the home production of the species would soon be 

 adequate to meet all demands: he is not delicate either, which is yet 

 another point scored in his favour, and as, at least for some time to 

 come, he is certain to command a high price in the market, it would 

 certainly be worth the while of amateurs to attempt to breed him in 

 captivity. 



One point, however, demands attention, — the Splendid Parrakeet is 

 of somewhat uncertain temper: like his relative the Turquoisine, one 

 individual may be of a purely angelic disposition, affable and kind to 

 all his neighbours, small, no less than great; and another may have a 

 temper of exactly the opposite kind, and commit sad havoc before his 

 unfriendly behaviour to his fellow-captives is discovered, and he himself 

 removed from their society, tried and condemned to durance vile for 

 the term of his natural life. 



