z 
INTBOBUOTION. 
scarcely to be exceeded in any ornithological work, at least of a popular 
character, with which we are acquainted. 
In conclusion we would remark that many people now keep Parrots, and 
many more are desirous of doing so, but very few of those persons under- 
stand how their favourites should be treated, and are pained and surprised 
when the poor things die soon after passing into their possession. An owner 
of a Parrot bereaved in this sudden and unexpected manner is apt to blame 
the dealer from whom he purchased the bird, the friend, or book, that 
advised him to feed it after such and such a manner, in a word, any one 
but himself, who, in ninety-nine cases out of one hundred, is the only one 
to blame. 
It stands to reason that a Parrot, especially a young one, taken suddenly 
away from the crowded cage in the dealer’s shop, where the warmth and 
society of its companions, and often their friendly mouthfuls of food thrust 
generously into its own, will take cold, and mope and pine, when placed 
in a cage, and too often a draught, by itself. The better plan is to buy 
at least two birds and place them, at first, in the same cage, open only in 
front, and by degrees accustom them to more air and freedom; after a while 
they may be placed in open cages, side by side, and when, at last, they 
seem to be thoroughly acclimatised, they may, if the owner does not want 
them both, be separated, and the least desirable of the two sold, usually 
at a considerable advance upon the purchased price. 
Poe/a nascitur non fit, said Horace long ago; similarly a true bird-fancier 
has the love of the feathered portion of creation born in him without doubt; 
at least such is our own case, and if in the following pages, and our other 
works on the subject, wc have been of even a little use to our favourites, 
by teaching their owners how to treat them better than they had previously 
been able to do, we feel that our labours have not been in vain. 
Moira House, Surrey. 
W. T. G. 
