28 
MANY-COLOURED PARRAKEET. 
must be taken not to place them with any of the strong-billed and 
mischievous varieties of their compatriots ; they may be rendered very 
tame by the judicious administration of their favourite morsels, to 
obtain which they soon overcome their natural timidity and fear of 
man. 
In their native country they breed in the hollow branches of trees, 
laying three or four white eggs on the bai’e wood; and have usually 
two broods during the season. We have no authentic record of their 
having been bred in this country, or even on the continent ; for although 
some were advertised recently as “ aviary-bred ”, we cannot believe that 
the birds so offered ever saw the light in this changeable ch'me. 
It is a pity they are so delicate and hard to preserve, for, with one 
or two exceptions, they are the most beautiful and desirable of all the 
Australian Parrateets. When in good health they are very lively and 
active, and the male has a soft and musical voice, of which, especially 
during the pairing season, he avails himself pretty freely. 
As might be expected from their gentle and inoffensive disposition, 
the sexes are strongly attached to each other, and are really much 
more truly deserving of the appellation of Love-birds than the short 
squat little creatures upon whom it is usually bestowed. 
We should take it as the greatest of favours if those readers who 
may attempt to keep these beautiful birds as recommended by us, or 
upon any other plan, would communicate the result of their endeavours 
to us through our publishers, for it is only by such interchange of 
experiences that we can ever hope to arrive at a solution of the 
difficulty hitherto experienced by amateurs in preserving this and the 
species that forms the subject of the following chapter. 
When in health, and gradually weaned off to seed, sponge-cake 
and bruised figs, not forgetting the mealworms, the Many-coloured 
Parrakeets are not particularly susceptible to cold, but during severe 
weather avail themselves of the cozy shelter of a hollow log : in fact 
they get on much better without, than with, artificial heat in winter, 
and we have seen them successfully wintered out of doors, during the 
severe seasons of four and five years ago, and never saw finer, or, 
apparently, more healthy and vigorous birds. 
M. Alfred Eousse, of Fontenay-le-Comte, records a case of successful 
reproduction of the Many-coloured Parrakeet last year. 
