BARNARDS PARRAKEET. 19 



in nature; notwithstanding all that has been said about accidental 

 variation and natural selection. 



But we are wandering from our Barnards, which, on the whole, we 

 consider preferable, as inmates of the aviary, to Bauer's Parrakeets, 

 though they are not more fitted than the latter for cage life; and 

 should never be immured within the narrow limits of even the very 

 largest cage that could be provided for their use indoors, in which 

 they certainly would never attempt to breed; whatever chance there 

 might be of their doing so in a large well-furnished avairy out of 

 doors. 



The "Western Aviary at the Zoological Gardens, in the Regent's 

 Park, is our beau ideal of what a Parrot aviary should be; but instead 

 of dividing it into so many compartments, we should only make three; 

 placing in the middle the larger species, the medium sized occupying 

 one wing, and the pigmy parrots, such as the different species of 

 love-birds, the third. It might be a noisy collection, but it would be 

 a most interesting and delightful one ; the only drawback, that it would 

 be impossible to have any living plants in it : grass, however, would 

 be possible, and, if renewed every season, a great improvement ; but 

 there should be an abundance of logs of wood, dead trees in fact 

 with all their branches on ; and in these, many of the prisoners would 

 excavate themselves nests. Other nesting boxes, or rather logs, should 

 of course be provided, and we are convinced that such an institution 

 would, not only be quite self supporting, but actually pay well by 

 the sale of the young stock that would certainly be obtained in 

 such a place. 



With the exception of the Lories, all Parrots are seed-eaters, and 

 give very little trouble indeed in the matter of food, but a stream of 

 water should be contrived to percolate through the aviary, and a 

 rockery or two would add materially to its attractions. 



The sparsely timbered forests of South Western Australia form the 

 chief habitat of this species, which is not numerous, even there, and 

 is consequently but seldom captured and imported, which is a fact to 

 be deplored by connoisseurs; who, if they could obtain Barnard's at 

 a more reasonable figure might not only breed them freely in their 

 avaries, but cross the three species, Bauer's, Barnard's, and the 

 Australian Ring-neck; and determine, once for all, whether these birds 

 were really three distinct species, or only local varieties of one. 



If the cross-bred progeny proved to be capable of reproduction, the 

 latter hypothesis would be established, but on the contrary if they 

 were sterile, it would be proved beyond a doubt, that the birds were 

 distinct. While the price, however, remains as high as it is, this 



