during which time he only loaves for ;i few minutes to go is search of food and water. But when his term of 
duty has expired, and he considers it his mate's turn, there is sometimes a most amusing altercation between them. 
She is of ;i contrary opinion, and refuses to take up her post ; he scolds, and from scolding they fight; if she 
still refuses to give up her liberty, he chases and pecks her into submission ; and eventually she goes back, at 
which he gives a victorious chuckle, and (lies oil' in search of food. When the young are hatched the mother 
scarcely leaves them for the first three days, and she alone appears to feed them; but as they get stronger she 
leaves the care of them more and more to their father. It often happens that she begins to lay again, and the 
eggs arc actually hatched before the first brood is fully fledged; but this is a development of captivity, where 
food may be procured w ithout the trouble of foraging for it, and broods arc reared continuously for nine months 
in the year. To meel the exigencies of such prolificacy the young ones rledge very rapidly, and are ready to leave 
the nest fully urown in about three weeks, and niter a few days' tuition can provide for their own wants. 
This is such a healthy, hardy bird thai it lives to an immense age. Greene instances one which has 
been in his possession upwards of ten years, has outlived three wives, and is still bale and hearty. He does not 
know what age it was when he got it. 
The total length of the Cockatiel is eleven inches, five of which are taken up by the tail. 
The egg is a chalky white. Length, twelve lines ; breadth, nine lines. 
The plumage of this bird without being beautiful, is decidly pretty, with its bold contrasts of colour; 
the general hue is ashen grey, darker on the upper than on the under surfaces of the body; the shoulders and 
outer edges of the wings are pure white ; the crest and face are citron yellow in the male ; on the ear coverts 
is a patch of brick red; back of the neck, two centre tail feathers, and the external margin of the primaries, 
brownish grey; irides, dark brown; bill, bluish lead colour, light on the side of the lower mandible; tarsi, 
bluish grey. 
The female differs in having crest and face of a dull olive yellow, the former becoming darker at its 
extremity ; the throat greyish brown, and the back lighter than in the male ; the lower part of the abdomen and 
upper tail coverts, yellow; four middle tail feathers grey, remainder yellow ; the whole transversely and irregularly 
barred with lines of brown, with the exception of the outer web of the outer feathers on each side, which is pure 
yellow . 
The young of both sexes are like their mother in having the under surface of the tail barred, but even 
when three weeks old, the males can be distinguished by the perceptible shade of yellow on their faces. 
Habitats : Derby (N.W.A.), Port Darwin and Port Essington, Gulf of Carpentaria, Wide Bay District 
(Queensland), New South Wales, Interior, Victoria, and South Australia, West and South-West Australia. 
