206 
Jlsiis to Moubcrs' A^'iarics. 
The late Hon. and I\ev. Canon Dutton tlioni^lit it to be 
a food diflficnlty — he liad twelve specimens in all, and tried a 
very varied dietary with them, but they very quickly died off one 
by one; therefore it would be very practical and useful if Mrs. 
Burt^ess would kindly send full notes as to how she has fed and 
treated her specimen (I think she has only one) since it has been 
in her possession. 
Mr. R. Phillips had a pair in 1897, '^^i*^ the male (sickly 
when received) soon died, but the hen did well and became very 
tame. He fed her on a seed mixture of. canary iK: hemp; dry 
crumbled biscuit, date or fiv; cut into small pieces; now and then 
she i^'ot a sound banana (not peeled), and sometimes half an 
oiange. The i^reat difficulty v.as to relieve her craving- for 
g"rit, and to get her into a healthy state without block or stoppaj.:c 
of any kind. She was sometimes given fluid magnesia and 
sometimes sulphate of iron. 
On the continent they have been kept wiih varying 
success, and Baron von Cornely succeeded first in breeding three 
hvbrids between N. nz'aecnsis and .V. coruutns, and later success- 
fully reared young of N . ui'occusis. 
A good coloured plate of this species appeared in B.N. 
for September 1910. 
Rock Gr.ass-Parrakekts (N cophcnia pctrophlla) : These 
beautiful parrakeets are quite rare on the English market, and 
have been very costly to procure for some time past. 
Their colouration is cpiiet l)ut beautiful : brownish-green 
above, with blue in their flights and a frontal band of the same 
hue; beneath yellowish-green, almost ]iure yellow on breast and 
middle of abdomen. 
They are not a robust, and yet not a delicate species; they 
should be removed to indoor quarters on the approach of cold 
weather. 
Mrs. Burgess' birds were in fine form, looking quite 
happy and contented with their company and quarters. 
Barnard's Parrakeets (Barnardius barnardi) : One of 
the most beautiful (not a garish patch of colour in its varied 
plumage) of the broadtails ; in form and deportment similar to 
the Rosella Parrakeet and requires the same food and treatment. 
