218 
Breeding of the Mealy Uosella. 
The young were raised on a seed mixture of : Canary, 
millet, hemp and oats; bread and milk once a day, and lettuce 
occasionally. 
The young- (three) Alexandrines are much less iwild 
than Rosellas at the same age, and are very attractive birds. 
In plumage they are similar to the hen bird, hut, I 
think, I can see traces of the lark collar as in the male bird. 
♦ 
Breeding of the Mealy Rosella. 
By the Rev. G. H. RAyNOR, M.A. 
I am the fortunate possessor of an exceptionally fine 
pair of Plati/eereiis pallidiceps, which I consider one of the 
most beautiful and charming of Australian Broad -tails. They 
have now been nearly two years in my possession, and have 
always lived out of doors. For the last fifteen months they 
have occupied, together with Budgerigars, my spacious Parra- 
keet Aviary, which faces S. and W., and has a large cosy 
shelter. Here, in a largish -sized liarrel, the hen last year 
laid three clutches of three eggs each, but only hatched one 
young one. This died in about a week's time, when the 
feathers were just showing blue (see "B.N." 1913, p. 315). 
On two occasions the hen was very ill, suffering apparently from 
egg -binding, and it was only by taking lier indooi's and nurs- 
ing hev assiduously before the kitchen fire that I was able 
to save her life. 
This year she has not ailed at all, and is in splendid 
condition. 1 don't quite know when she went to nest, but 
it must have been some three weeks before May 8th, when 
she hatched. I didn't dare to look into her barrel till the 
22nd, when I found it to contain two barren eggs and a 
strong youngster. For the next three weeks the mother 
kept a great deal to the barrel, being fed by her husband, 
although she was off more frequently towards the end of the 
period. Matters culminated on the 11th of June, when I 
found the youngster on the floor of the shelter, but how he 
got there I don't quite know. On the same day he, or she, 
was out in the shelter, and had climbed up some dead branches 
three or four feet from the g-round. His feathers, though 
