86 ELEGANT PABBAKEET. 
We have had Budgerigars and Oockatiels that laid on alternate days, 
acting in that respect contrary to the usual habit of their congeners; 
and a Eed-rump that allowed three days to elapse between each egg; 
but we consider such birds to be wanting in vigour, and never found 
that they produced “a, fine brood of birds^^, bnt that their eggs were 
very frequently unfruitful, and that when young were hatched, these 
were invariably weak, and not unfrequently misshapen, or rickety, or 
incapable of flight. -n i . 
Constipation seems to be the chief ailment of the Elegant Parrakeet, 
to obviate which, as it often gives rise to “fits”, we advise an abundant 
supply of growing grass, in flower and seed, and crumbs of stale bread 
soaked in cold water, and squeezed nearly dry. 
If proof were wanting to convince some people, who hold the con- 
trary opinion, that water is necessary for Parrots and Parrakeets, the 
experience of the late Mr. Gould, as related in his magnificent work 
on The Birds of Australia, ought to be sufficient. “I found myself 
surrounded”, says that writer, “by numbers (of Grass Parrakeets) 
breeding in the hollows spouts of the large Eucalypti bordering the 
Mokai; and on crossing the plains between that river and the Peel, 
in the direction of the Turi mountains, I saw them in flocks of many 
hundreds, feeding upon the grass seeds that are there abundant. So 
numerous were they, that I determined to encamp upon the spot, in 
order to observe their habits, and to procure specimens. The nature 
of their 'food and the excessive heat of these plains compel them fre- 
quently to seek the water; hence my camp, which was pitched near 
some small fords, was constantly surrounded by large numbers, arriving 
in flocks varying from twenty to a hundred or more. The hours at 
which they were most numerous were early m the morning, and some 
time before dark in the evening.” • , . 
From the above extract it will be seen that in their native land 
these birds drink freely; and such is also our experience with many 
species in different parts of the Australian bush, whore we have fre- 
quently seen large flocks resorting, as Mr. Gould describes, morning 
and evening to the water holes. 
Although the Elegants and other Grass Parrakeets like to fly in 
company, they do not care to have their habitations in too close prox- 
imity to one another, so that if several pairs are kept in the same 
aviary, this will require to be of considerable extent, so that the birds 
may not be crowded, or they certainly will not breed; the jealousy 
of the males preventing proper fertilization of the eggs, and if one 
pair only be kept, the results would be much more satisfactory. 
