Grass Parrakccts in Captivity. 
3 
" siderable distance, on some ridge of mossy land. When 
" she has looked round, she runs quickly to the next ridge, 
" and looks round again, generally calling- to the male with 
" a single note. The male seldom replies, but when he does 
" so, it is with a double note. When the female has stopped 
" and looked round many times, then the male thinks it worth 
" wliile to move, but more often than not he joins the female 
" by frying up to her. The female very seldom takes wing. 
" She is very cautious, and if she is not satisfied that all is 
" safe, she will pass and repass her nest several times before 
" she finally settles upon it. She rarely remains upon one 
" post of observation long, but the male often remains for ten 
" minutes or more upon one tussock of a ridge watching the 
" movements of the female." 
T am afraid that there is not much chance of these birds 
nesting in confinment, but the experiment is quite worth trying. 
O^-^ 
Grass Parraheefcs in Captivity. 
By the Marqui.s of Tavistock. 
The lovely little birds popularly known as Grass 
Parrakeets, are all, according to the latest Australian writers, 
doomed to early extinction. The destruction of their natural 
food supply, imported cats, stoats and foxes, and the coloniza- 
tion of areas least subject to severe drought, have all played 
their part, and of the seven known species, Bourke's, Blue- 
winged, Elegant, Rock, Yellow-bellied, Splendid, and Turquois- 
ine, the two last, which were the most beautiful, have apparently 
already joined the Dodo and the Great Auk. 
T have kept at different times four kinds, with varying 
success. They have much to recommend them besides their 
rarity : their gentle, twittering cries could not offend the most 
sensitive ear; they are all exceedingly beautiful. They do 
little or no damage to growing shrubs, and they are not spiteful 
with weaker birds. Some, though not all, agree well enough 
with their own kind, for a few pairs to breed together in 
harmony. But they are not the easiest of birds to manage, 
though the difficulty of keeping them is not such as need deter 
any true lover of Parrakeets. They are not so hardy as the 
