THE



Avicultural Magazine


THE JOURNAL OF THE

AVICULTURAL SOCIETY



Fourth Series. —Vol. X. — No. 2 .—All rights reserved. FEBRUARY, 1932.



THE BLUE-WINGED GRASS PARRAKEET


By Edward J. Boosey


The Blue-winged Grass Parrakeet (Neonanodes chrysostomus) is a

comparatively soberly-coloured, and perhaps partly for that reason,

the least rare representative of a rapidly-dwindling family.


It inhabits South Australia, and is indigenous to Victoria and New

South Wales, visiting Tasmania for the summer and returning to the

mainland in the autumn, after the breeding season is over.


The coloured plate renders a description of the bird unnecessary.


That his beauty is not more fully appreciated, is in all probability,

chiefly due to the fact that the cock Blue-wing, when in repose, usually

sits with his chief glory—the wonderful deep sapphire blue wing-

patches—almost concealed beneath the overlapping greenish-yellow

breast feathers. Thoroughly to appreciate his beauty, therefore, he

must be seen in flight, or when fully alert.


Blue-wings are by no means difficult birds to cater for and should

be fed on a mixture of canary and millet, with a little oats and a very

small quantity of hemp. Both the latter can safely be increased when

the birds have young ones to feed, and at this period they also

appreciate a dish of their seed mixture previously soaked in water,

until it is just starting to sprout.



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