SPLENDID FARBAKEET. 
101 
for the importation of a rare bird is sure to cause a flutter in the 
breasts of connoisseurs^ who rush to purchase it with one accord, as 
soon as its advent has been made known, when the dealer has only 
to name, in order to obtain his price for the phenomenon: and even 
in those rare cases where the sum demanded is beyond the limit of 
even the largest private purse, our “Zoo”, or one of the continental 
Zoological Societies is certain to step in and secure the prize, no matter 
at what enormous figure, or, as the French say, “prix fou.” 
A Grass Parrakoet, or sood-eator, the Splendid Parrakoet is not a 
difiicult bird to keep, so that the £10 or so given for him is much 
more safely invested, than if risked upon a couple of pairs of Paradiseas, 
or Many-coloured Parrakeets. Canary, millet, and oats should form his 
staple diet; a handful of sweepings from the hayloft thrown into the 
aviary will afford him amusement in picking out the seeds, as well as 
a welcome change of food; and, should he chance to go to nest, as 
he probably would, if lodged according to his notion of the fitness of 
things, dry crumb of bread should not be forgotten; a little hemp is 
permissible, as a variety, now and then, and the same may be said of 
flax and maw-seed: tufts of flowering grass in the season, or a bunch 
of half-ri23e French millet will form an agreeable change in his bill 
of fare, but must not, at first, be supplied with too lavish a hand; 
groundsel tops and dandelion flowers he is also fond of, while migno- 
nette in blossom, or just commencing to seed, will be much appreciated. 
Lodged and fed as recommended, we have no doubt tho Splendid 
Parrakoet would soon cease to be the rara avis of our collections, for 
he would then certainly breed, and, ere long, we should be almost, if 
not altogether, independent of a foreign supply for this charming bird, 
now so rare that we venture to say not one in ten of our readers has 
over seen it alive; for the home production of the species would soon be 
adequate to meet all demands: he is not delicate either, which is yet 
another point scored in his favour, and as, at least for some time to 
come, ho is certain to command a high price in the market, it would 
certainly be worth the while of amateurs to attempt to breed him in 
captivity. 
One point, however, demands attention, — the Splendid Parrakeet is 
of somewhat uncertain temper: like his relative the Turquoisine, one 
individual may be of a purely angelic disposition, affable and kind to 
all his neighbours, small, no less than great; and another may have a 
temper of exactly the opposite kind, and commit sad havoc before his 
unfriendly behaviour to his fellow-captives is discovered, and he himself 
removed from their society, tried and condemned to durance vile for 
the term of his natural life. 
