INTRODUCTION. 
xi 
frayed and broken : a square cage with two perches in it, one placed cross- 
wise above the other, is the proper abode for a Parrot, and the larger the 
dwelling, the better and more healthy will be the bird. 
A cross-bar stand to which the creature is chained by the leg is perhaps 
preferable to a cage for the Macaws and larger Cockatoos, but care must 
be taken that the part upon which the bird sits is not cased with tin, but 
made of wood, the ends of which only should be covered with metal: but 
a perch of iron or zinc is too cold for the feet of a Parrot, who gets 
cramp, and pains in his limbs from sitting on such an unnatural kind of 
perch, which a considerate owner will no longer compel him to use, when 
he knows what suffering it entails upon the unfortunate bird. 
Parrots, as a rule, have as much individuality, not to say character, as 
human beings, each has its peculiar idiosyncrasy, and no hard and fast 
rule can be laid down for their management, as each several bird must be 
studied and treated according to the disposition it displays: this is par- 
ticularly true of the large Parrots, including the Cockatoos, but the smaller 
species, namely the Parrakeets and Love-birds, thrive better in an aviary 
than they do in a cage. These small creatures very seldom become as 
much attached to their owners as their larger brethren frequently do, and 
we have never known an instance in which they did not prefer the society 
of a member or members of their own race to that of the master or mistress 
who had bought and cared for them; whereas, the contrary rule very fre- 
quently obtains with regard to the large Parrots. In any case a bird that 
may be comparatively tame and gentle when kept in a cage, or chained 
to a stand, by itself, is very apt to become wild, even savage, when placed 
in the society of a companion of its own kind, although this is by no 
means invariably the case; and, as we said before, the idiosyncrasy of the 
bird must be considered in this respect. 
Some Parrots and Parrakeets will become so tame that, especially in the 
country, they may be permitted to enjoy almost perfect liberty in the garden, 
returning regularly to their owner’s call, or at all events when prompted 
by the demands of appetite, for which reason it is always well to let them 
out, at least at first, before they have had a meal, and to hold out the 
sweetmeat, in a manner of speaking, to them when it is wished that they 
should return to their cage. 
Some species are gifted with more, much more, of the homing instinct 
than others; the Parrots proper and the Lories, for example, far exceeding 
the old world Parrakeets, such as the Ring-necked and Alexandrine, in this 
