MANY-COLOURED PARRAKEET. 27 



The female, as usually happens among birds, is much more soberly 

 attired: her forehead is yellow, but of a paler shade than in the male, 

 the top of her head green, the back and secondaries of the wings 

 grey, the neck and breast reddish grey, the primaries green with black 

 extremities, the abdomen yellowish green, the under tail coverts yellow, 

 the tail greenish blue, but lighter than in the male, and her shoulder 

 patch, instead of being yellow is red; so that she bears a considerable 

 resemblance, not to the female Redrump, but to the female of the 

 Beautiful Parrakeet (Psittacus vel Psephotus Pulcherrimus) , from which 

 however she can be distinguished by the larger extent of her red 

 shoulder patch, while from the young male of the latter species she 

 will be known by her breast of reddish brown, and the deeper colour 

 of her wings and tail. 



Not very numerous in their native country, these birds are not fre- 

 quently imported; but when they do arrive, they are readily sold to 

 amateurs at a high figure, notwithstanding the fact that they seldom 

 endure for any length of time in captivity, for they and the following 

 species, called the Paradise Parrakeet, are really Lories, and during 

 the greater part of the year feed on the pollen and nectar of the 

 Eucalypti and other flowering trees of their native land, for which 

 sponge-cake is at the best but a poor substitute. 



During the winter there is no doubt that these birds subsist on 

 seeds, but these are always soft, and to keep them alive in this country 

 nature should be imitated for them as nearly as can be: thus their 

 millet and canary seed must be soaked in cold water for some hours, 

 and then left to drain before being given to them; soft sponge-cake 

 and bruised figs must also be supplied, and in summer, in addition to 

 the above, they should have an abundance of groundsel tops, cabbage 

 or brocoli flowers, mignonette, dandelion flowers, and so on, and 

 especially the blossoms of the lime-tree: nor should half a dozen 

 mealworms per diem be omitted for each bird. 



Attention to these rules will enable the amateur to keep these beau- 

 tiful birds successfully, and doubtless to breed them too; but with 

 every care they are apt to look a little puffy one day, to be found 

 the next morning by their disconsolate owner dead; the cause, consti- 

 pation, a flow of blood to the head, or a rupture of a blood-vessel in 

 the brain: or, pining for their natural food, they sometimes fall into 

 a decline and gradually fade away, though their usual exit from this 

 troublesome world is painfully sudden and unexpected. 



The Many-coloured Parrakeets are very gentle and inoffensive 

 creatures, never interfering with the other inmates of the aviary, nor 

 even attempting to defend themselves when attacked, so that care 



