vi INTRODUCTION. 



Bread and milk we had been assured was the only proper food for a 

 Parrot, and upon that strange diet not a few of those with which we had 

 been acquainted were habitually fed, and some of them even survived its 

 administration for a considerable time, thanks, no doubt, to an exceptionally 

 fine constitution. 



"What is the proper time of year to buy a Parrot?" is a question that 

 we are very frequently asked, and to which we reply, In the summer time; 

 that is to say from June to the end of August, or September if the weather 

 is exceptionally fine: if you buy one during the cold season it will be apt, 

 even if you carry it home yourself, to take a chill upon being brought out 

 of the dealer's stuffy shop, for, mark you, all bird-dealers' shops are stuffy; 

 while if it is sent to you from a distance, it will, if alive when it reaches 

 you, be certain to die in a few days, or, at the outside, weeks after you 

 have received it, from bronchitis or inflammation of the lungs, the founda- 

 tion of which has been laid on the journey. Let a bird be ever so well 

 packed up when it leaves the hands of the dealer, it will be certain to be 

 exposed to the cold through the curiosity of the railway porters, who seem 

 perfectly unable to let a bird pass through their hands without personal 

 inspection, and if to the exposure thus entailed upon it, we add a sojourn 

 of some hours in a cold railway van, the wonder is not that so many of 

 the birds sent by rail die, but that any of them survive. We have known 

 instances where birds had been securely packed in boxes, the lids of which 

 were screwed down, and the air-holes protected by perforated zinc and 

 muslin, which on reaching their destination were found to have had the 

 protecting gauze torn away, and even the screws taken out, so that the 

 porters should see what sort of a thing they were handling. In summer- 

 time this curiosity on the part of the railway officials is not likely to be 

 productive of such serious consequences as in winter; but, nevertheless, 

 we would advise our readers never to send to a distance for a bird if 

 they can by any possibility buy one near at hand, and carry it home 

 themselves. We would prefer to give £z for a bird that we could inspect 

 previous to purchase, and take away with us, rather than half that amount 

 for one that would have to be sent to us by rail. 



Should it, however, be decided to buy a Parrot in the winter, or spring, 

 the purchaser must take it home in a snug box, and place the cage it is 

 to inhabit in a warm room, taking the precaution to cover it over on top 

 and three sides with a thick baize covering, to place it below the gas, 

 and having ascertained by inspection what the dealer had been feeding it 



