MANY-COLOUBED PABBAKEET. 
27 
The female, as usually happens among birds, is much more soberly 
attired : her forehead is yellow, but of a paler shade than in the male, 
the top of her head green, the back and secondaries of the wings 
grey, the neck and breast reddish grey, the primaries green with black 
extremities, the abdomen yellowish green, the under tail coverts yellow, 
the tail greenish blue, but lighter than in the male, and her shoulder 
patch, instead of being yellow is red ; so that she bears a considerable 
resemblance, not to the female Redrump, but to the female of the 
Beautiful Parrakeet ( Psittacus vel Psephotvs Pulclierrimus) , from which 
however she can be distinguished by the larger extent of her red 
shoulder patch, while from the young male of the latter species she 
will be known by her breast of reddish brown, and the deeper colour 
of her wings and tail. 
Not very numerous in their native country, these birds are not 
frequently imported; but when they do arrive, they are readdy sold to 
amateurs at a high figure, notwithstanding the fact that they seldom 
endure for any length of time in captivity, for they and the following 
species, called the Paradise Parrakeet, are really Lories, and during 
the greater part of the year feed on the pollen and nectar of the 
Eucalypti and other flowering trees of their native land, for which 
sponge-cake is at the best but a poor substitute. 
During the winter there is no doubt that these birds subsist on 
seeds, but these are always soft, and to keep them alive in this country 
nature should be imitated for them as nearly as can be : thus their 
millet and canary seed must be soaked in cold water for some hours, 
and then left to drain before been given to them; soft sponge-cake 
and bruised figs must also be supplied, and in summer in addition to 
the above, they should have an abundance of groundsel tops, cabbage 
or brocoli flowers, mignonette, dandelion flowers, and so on, and 
especially the blossoms of the lime-tree: nor should half a dozen 
mealworms per diem be omitted for each bird. 
Attention to these rules will enable the amateur to keep these 
beautiful birds successfully, and doubtless to breed them too; but 
with every care they are apt to look a little puffy one ay_, o e 
found the next morning by their disconsolate owner dead; the cause, 
constipation, a flow of blood to the head, or a rapture of a blood- 
vessel in the brain : or, pining for their natural food, they sometimes 
fall into a decline and gradually fade away, though their usual exit 
from this troublesome world is painfully sudden and unexpected. 
The Many-coloured Parrakeets are very gentle and inoffensive 
creatures, never interfering with the other inmates of the aviaiy, noi 
even attempting to defend themselves when attacked, so that care 
