QUAKER PABBAKEET. 35 



in large numbers; nor are they favourites with, those amateurs who 

 have made their acquaintance on account of their noisy habits. 



From all we have said, however, it will be gathered that could their 

 disposition to screech be overcome, their tameness and capacity for 

 learning to speak would soon endear them to their owners, and make 

 other connoisseurs desirous of obtaining them; but in any case the 

 curious nest-building propensities, and the great hardiness of these 

 Parrakeets, are surely enough to recommend them to more favourable 

 notice than has been accorded them of late; for there is much truth 

 in the homely adage "Give a dog a bad name, and hang it!" as well 

 as in the converse proposition. The Quaker Parrakeets are seldom 

 praised by the dealers, and consequently, notwithstanding their numerous 

 good qualities, are not very often inquired after by connoisseurs. 



Our esteemed correspondent Mrs. Cassirer pleasantly accounts in the 

 following manner for the deviation from the habits of the race, in the 

 matter of nest building, of the Quaker or Grey-breasted Parrakeet: — 

 "I,, though a Parrot, find that as I live in bogs and marshes, the 

 trunks of trees and branches are apt to be damp, and my young to 

 be drowned by a sudden rising of the waters, therefore I will build 

 on trees, and since I am good tempered and sociable, I will join my 

 sisters for our common protection from enemies; and since I do 

 not want to climb, I will carry up sticks in my beak, and I will line 

 my nest with soft grass for health/' 



Well, that is very prettily put, and may be the true solution of the 

 puzzle; indeed, we will go further, and say that probably it is: but 

 so far our Quakers have not used any lining for their nest, though 

 we have placed hay and fibre at ther disposal; but may be they do 

 not consider their edifice complete, though they sleep in it every night. 



Mrs. 0. Buxton writes, "You will be interested to know that, two 

 years ago, our ' Monte Videan Parrakeets' built a nest on the top of 

 a slender tall fir, and brought up a brood of four. We lost all but 

 three. Next year two of them brought up a brood of five in the same 

 nest; but we lost all these. They stray and do not return. This year 

 we got four more from Jamrach. They were happily domesticated, 

 and began collecting sticks for a nest, taking no notice of the old one. 

 Then one killed itself against the windows, and two have disappeared, 

 and now we have only one left/' 



The next figured is drawn from one made in our own aviary. 



