CAGE AND SINGING BIRDS. 
a peculiarly soft, silky appearance, and being tinged towards 
tlie vertex with green, which becomes more decided as it 
passes to the back, w^hence it flow^s over the whole body in 
varying shades, sometimes fading into yellow, sometimes 
deepening into blue, and even black ; a band of this latter 
colour passes across the forehead of the bird, and a trian- 
gular black spot extends on each side, from the base of the 
beak over the cheek to the throat ; a crimson tint pervades 
the under part of the body. There is a variety of this 
species with a black beak ; it is an agreeable, loquacious, and 
very docile bird. 
THE LUNATED PARRAKEET, 
Sometimes called the red-crescented parrakeet, is about the 
same size as the last species, with a conical tail six inches 
long, and a deeply indented beak of a whitish horn colour ; 
the forehead, and a semicircular stripe extending from the 
breast to the neck on each side,, are bright red, as are also 
the lower wing-coverts ; the back dark green ; the tail and 
upper wing-covert, siskin green, lined with yellow. This is 
a lively and noisy bird, fond of screaming and talking, 
which it does with great distinctness ; it is known to have 
attained a great age in confinement. 
THE LITTLE BLUE AKD GREEN PARRAKEET 
Is about the size of the common sparrow, with an orange- 
coloured bill, cere, and circle round the eyes, and a ^reen 
body prettily marked with blue. It is a native of the 
Brazils and Guiana, is rarely seen in this country, is quite 
gentle arid affectionate, and should be fed on bread and milk, 
with hemp and canary seed. 
AUSTRALIAN GROUND PARRAKEETS. 
These birds are of comparativel}^ recent introduction into 
this country ; there are several species, or, perhaps, we 
should rather say varieties, of them, for they appear to differ 
only in the colours of their plumage, which are extremely 
vivid and rich, — such as scarlet, crimson, purple, green, and 
yellow, from pale primrose to deep orange ; they are of small 
size, verj^ lively, plajful, and affectionate; they run along 
the ground with the same grace and facility as they climb 
