Alfred Ezra—Breeding of Queen Alexandra s Parrakeets 9


SUCCESSFUL BREEDING OF QUEEN

ALEXANDRA’S PARRAKEETS

(NORTHIPSITTA ALEXANDRA)


By Alfred Ezra, O.B.E.


It has always been my great ambition to own some of these lovely

Parrakeets. Their beautiful colouring and tameness make them the

most delightful pets one can have. Last winter, I was offered a pair

by my friend Mr. Harvey, of Adelaide, and I was overjoyed, and at

once accepted the offer. In due course they arrived in absolutely

show condition about the first week of May. Every feather was

perfect and I have never seen birds look so well and healthy, proving

the amount of care and trouble that had been taken over them on the

voyage. As it was still cold I kept them in a cage in my bird-room

till about the end of May, when I turned them out into one of my

large Parrakeet aviaries. I gave them a nest-box about 6 feet long

with bark inside and outside, and this was filled with peat moss that

was damped, and over this I put in a few pieces of rotten wood. The

birds were so tame that the moment I walked into the aviary they

both came and settled on my shoulder, when I fed them with a few

mealworms. They had hardly been out a week, when I saw that they

were keenly interested in the nest, and the cock bird started feeding

the hen. Very soon after, four eggs were found in the nest, and the

hen bird was sitting well and the cock bird feeding her. All four

eggs were hatched early in July. The birds being very tame, I was

i able to look into the nest-box as often as I liked, without disturbing

them. The cock bird worked very hard, and kept on supplying the

hen with food all day long. About the end of August one sturdy

young bird left the nest, and in another few days they were all four

out. I have never seen more healthy young birds, and so strong on

the wing from the moment they left the nest. The hen fed the young

birds all day long, and from the moment she and her young left the

nest, the cock bird gave up feeding them, and always flew away when

any of the young came up to him for food. While nesting and feeding

young the Parrakeets were given the ordinary seeds, with a few

mealworms every day, also a lot of groundsel, chickweed, lettuce,



