Mrs. Darnton■—Successful Breeding of Bayard’s Parrakeet 275



THE SUCCESSFUL BREEDING OF THE

LAYARD’S PARRAKEET


(Psittacula calthmpce)


By Mrs. Darnton


The Bayard is by no means a brilliantly coloured Parrakeet, but

the lavender blue head and shoulders, blue rump and violet central

tail-feathers, set off by a bright coral beak, make the cock a very

attractive bird, the body and wings being a bright rich green.


The hen is more soberly garbed, her beak being black, and green

predominating, except on her rump and tail, which are like the cock’s.


Layards are peculiar to Ceylon, but even there they are by no means

a common bird, keeping to the hill country and being very local.

I first made their acquaintance in the wild state while I was on a

three months’ trip to Ceylon during the winter of 1934, as I often used

to watch a small flock of eight or ten birds in the neighbourhood of

Kandy. These were nesting in various trees within a short distance

of each other, all at varying heights, one pair having a nest in a hollow

branch only about 12 feet from the ground, while another pair

had young in a hole at least 60 feet up, the tree it was in being abso¬

lutely straight, with a smooth grey trunk completely devoid of branches

except at the very top, the Bayard’s nest being a few feet below the

first branch. With a strong pair of field glasses I could plainly see

the young birds, evidently nearly ready to fly, craning their little heads

out of the hole to be fed by their mother. Suitable nesting accom¬

modation was evidently at a premium in that district, as on several

occasions I watched the parents driving off other house-hunting

Layards, and once even a' pair of Ceylon Alexandrines were uncere¬

moniously given their conge.


The pair which have successfully reared two very fine young in

my aviaries this summer were bought from natives who had hand-

reared them and kept them for pets. The hen I discovered in the

fruit market in Kandy, hanging in a particularly small and dirty wire

cage, with a messy little dish of curry on its floor and a piece of banana



