44 
BLUE MOUNTAIN LOBY. 
seedj aad although, he declared that the birds fed on soft food were 
liable to fits, and those fed on seed were not, it seems difficult to 
accept the statement withput long and close observation. 
That Parrots have great power of changing their food, the remarkable 
instance of the Ka-Ka {Nestor notahilis) , which has become carnivorous 
within the memory of man, proves. But what a bird can do with im- 
punity at liberty is very different from what it can do in confinement. 
Even the Ka-Ka itself is found at the Zoological Gardens to prefer a 
frugivorous diet when it has a choice, and there can be no doubt that 
the structure of the Blue Mountain’s tongue points out for it a more 
or less fluid food. Now it is very well known that the fits of which 
aviary birds generally die are apoplectic, and it is also well known that 
anything like obstruction is a pre-disposing cause to apoplexy. It does 
not seem likely therefore that to give a bird, accustomed to relaxing 
food, one which has the very opposite effect will make it less liable 
to apoplexy. On the other hand, I must bear witness that the Blue 
Mountains I saw eating looked the picture of robust health. Granted 
that the seed diet is the best for them, and they at once become 
charming birds for an aviary. Their incessant activity and amusing 
ways, together with their extreme beauty, make them birds that it is 
always a pleasure to watch. They also are very fond of bathing, and 
I confess that I have a partiality to birds which tub well. 
But they are not very suited to a room. Their cries, which are 
very ear-piercing, are pretty nearly as incessant as their movements. I 
should think they would be capital birds to turn loose, if one had a 
pair tame enough to start with, but I have never tried them in this 
way, as the pair I had wore not tame, though they were not timid. 
I know not whether they breed in England: they have been bred 
in captivity at the Cape. 
As pretty neaidy every bird which is caged can be taught to speak, 
I have no doubt Blue Mountains could be, but I never have heard of 
one which talked. 
I should perhaps add that owing to the dirty habits of my Blue 
Mountains, combined with their noisiness, I only kept them a few months. 
During that time they never had the sign of an ailment. 
