IN CAPTIVITY IN LOWER BENGAL. 261 



and, if possible, kept near the engine-room of a steamer ; sudden cold is 

 fatal to most of them. 



Treatment in sickness. 



These parrakeets, with few exceptions, are hardy birds, and, if once 

 established in captivity, maintain excellent health for years: cold and 

 inflammation of the lungs are the common complaints from which some 

 of them have been known to suffer ; the former generally yields to 

 dietetic and hygienic treatment, but the latter invariably terminates in 

 death : the percentage of loss is comparatively large amongst the newly 

 acquired rose-headed parrakeets. 



Observations on their habits. 



The Alexandrine, the ring-necked and the red-breasted parrakeets 

 are remarkable for their intelligence and acquisitive faculties ; the slaty- 

 headed and the blue-winged parrakeets do not appear to be endowed 

 with the same mental faculties as those of the parrakeets mentioned 

 above ; they are both shy and retiring in disposition, and are therefore 

 not suitable pets. All of them are in the habit of sleeping with their 

 head turned back with the beak hidden amongst the feathers. 



(172) THE RED-SIDED ECLEOTUS. 

 (ECLECTUS PECTORALIS— {MuUer.) ) 



Hindi and Bengali — Hirrnan or Hiraman tota, the green bird; 

 Lalmohan, the red bird. 



Though a native of New Gruinea, the species is well known in 

 Bengal ; it is not, however, generally known that the sexes differ so 

 widely, and that the green- coloured bird is the male, and the scarlet one 

 the female, of the same species. 



Hab. — New Guinea. 



Length of life in captivity. 



A male has been living since 1882 : it appears from the number of 

 deaths that take place among the new arrivals that these birds are 

 somewhat difficult to acclimatize. 



Treatment in captivity. 



Housing. — May be kept singly or in pairs in iron cages like those 

 recommended for the cockatoos ; they are not much given to biting the 

 wire ; extremely susceptible as they are to cold, great care must be 

 bestowed upon them, at least for the first few weeks after their arrival. 



Food. — Fruits, grains, and seeds constitute their principal food 

 in captivity ; bread, biscuits and vegetables being occasionally allowed 

 as a change : so long as the birds do not become well acclimatized, much 

 attention should be paid to feeding them according to their taste and 

 inclination; green shoots of corn are always agreeable to them, parti- 

 cularly during the first stage of their captive life. 



