INTRODUCTION. xi 



frayed and broken : a square cage with two perches in it, one placed cross- 

 wise above the other, is the proper abode for a Parrot, and the larger the 

 dwelling, the better and more healthy will be the bird. 



A cross-bar stand to which the creature is chained by the leg is perhaps 

 preferable to a cage for the Macaws and larger Cockatoos, but care must 

 be taken that the part upon which the bird sits is not cased with tin, but 

 made of wood, the ends of which only should be covered with metal: but 

 a perch of iron or zinc is too cold for the feet of a Parrot, who gets 

 cramp, and pains in his limbs from sitting on such an unnatural kind of 

 perch, which a considerate owner will no longer compel him to use, when 

 he knows what suffering it entails upon the unfortunate bird. 



Parrots, as a rule, have as much individuality, not to say character, as 

 human beings, each has its peculiar idiosyncrasy, and no hard and fast 

 rule can be laid down for their management, as each several bird must be 

 studied and treated according to the disposition it displays: this is par- 

 ticularly true of the large Parrots, including the Cockatoos, but the smaller 

 species, namely the Parrakeets and Love-birds, thrive better in an aviary 

 than they do in a cage. These small creatures very seldom become as 

 much attached to their owners as their larger brethren frequently do, and 

 we have never known an instance in which they did not prefer the society 

 of a member or members of their own race to that of the master or mistress 

 who had bought and cared for them; whereas, the contrary rule very fre- 

 quently obtains with regard to the large Parrots. In any case a bird that 

 may, be comparatively tame and gentle when kept in a cage, or chained 

 to a stand, by itself, is very apt to become wild, even savage, when placed 

 in the society of a companion of its own kind, although this is by no 

 means invariably the case; and, as we said before, the idiosyncrasy of the 

 bird must be considered in this respect. 



Some Parrots and Parrakeets will become so tame that, especially in the 

 country, they may be permitted to enjoy almost perfect liberty in the garden, 

 returning regularly to their owner's call, or at all events when prompted 

 by the demands of appetite, for which reason it is always well to let them 

 out, at least at first, before they have had a meal, and to hold out the 

 sweetmeat, in a manner of speaking, to them when it is wished that they 

 should return to their cage. 



Some species are gifted with more, much more, of the homing instinct 

 than others; the Parrots proper and the Lories, for example, far exceeding 

 the old world Parrakeets, such as the Ring-necked and Alexandrine, in this 



