7 
PALE-HEADED ROSELLA. 
eggs, and hemp seed; upon this diet, when once acclimatised, it will 
do°very well, and, in all probability, reproduce its species in captivity, 
which, indeed, it is stated, audore Dr. Russ, to have done last year 
in Germany. 
It is a strange fact that of two closely allied species, the less bril- 
liantly coloured should be an inhabitant of the warmer region; when, 
as a rule, the birds of tropical, or sub-tropical latitudes are so much 
more gorgeously apparelled than their congeners of more temperate 
climes; for the Mealy Rosella is not, as a glance at the illustrations 
will show, nearly as brightly coloured as the Rose-hill, which is found 
in Tasmania as well as in the southern parts of the mainland, and it 
would be curious to ascertain why this reversal of the usual order 
should have taken place in the present instance; but the problem is 
insoluble, unless we suppose that the great heat of Northern Australia 
blanched the bright colours of the Rosella, and produced the pallid 
bird which forms the subject of the present notice, which is not a very 
probable hypothesis: can any one help us to another? 
We are inclined to think that the ordinary Rosella, the Pale-headed 
and the Splendid variety (. Platycercus splendidus), which must not be 
confounded with the Splendid Grass Parrakeet ( Euphema splendida), 
are not readily distinct species, but rather geographical variations of 
the same; the first inhabiting the southern, the second the northern, 
and the third the central portions of Australia; a supposition that might 
very readily be put to the test by cross-pairing the several birds, and 
noting whether their offspring were fruitful or otherwise: these experi- 
ments, however, are outside the province of most ordinary connoisseurs, 
and should be undertaken by the Zoological or Acclimatisation Societies, 
who have the solving of so many interesting ornithological problems 
in their power, if they would only undertake the task. 
The Pale-headed Rosella in captivity is dull and uninteresting when 
kept by itself in a cage, and is not quite safe to be trusted with 
Parrakeets smaller than itself in an aviary, so that on the whole it 
will, perhaps, be as well for the aviarist not to meddle with it at all: 
nevertheless, as the very difficulty of procuring and keeping a bird is, 
in itself, a recommendation to some people, we doubt not that pur- 
chasers will be found for it, even at the price of £2 10s. now asked 
for a pair by the London dealers. 
