58 The Marquess of Tavistock—Breeding of the Hooded Parrakeet



It is extraordinary how they ever raised the last brood as we had

some very cold weather. About the time the young hatched we had

two nights of quite hard frost and later had much cold, rainy weather.

The last nest was built against the outside wire and sometimes the

nest seemed to be soaked. How the young were not drowned I cannot

understand.


So far I have not found Cordon Bleus delicate or hard to breed,

which may be beginner’s luck. The record for the one pair for one

season was twenty young and I did not lose one. They built a new, dome¬

shaped nest among the brush every time.


Three years ago a Vancouver man was presented with a medal

for raising two Cordon Bleus, the first ever raised in Canada. None,

to my knowledge, have been raised since. I would very much like to

know the record for one pair in one season in England.



THE BREEDING OF THE HOODED

PARRAKEET


(Psephotellus dissimilis )


By The Marquess of Tavistock


The successful breeding of this, the most graceful and lovely of

the smaller broadtails that are occasionally imported into Great

Britain, is a rare event ; indeed, apart from Mr. Astley’s first record

and a couple of very miserable specimens reared indoors during the

winter when my collection was in temporary quarters at Binstead,

I do not know of any other instances for England or even in Europe.


For one thing Hooded very rarely come over and then only in very

small numbers. For another, although some individuals are more

accommodating than the majority, they are, as a species, most tire¬

some about sticking to Australian seasons, moulting all summer and

trying to breed in October when their delicate young have not the

remotest chance of survival in the only healthy environment for a

Parrakeet nest, viz. the open air.


Hooded Parrakeets are about the same length as a Red-rump but



