THE



Avicultural Magazine


THE JOURNAL OF THE

AVICULTURAL SOCIETY



Fifth Series.—-V ol. I.—No. 7 .—All rights reserved. JULY, 1936.



PESQUET’S PARROT


(Dasyptilus pesqueti)


By F. Shaw Mayer


This strange looking but interesting Parrot is found only on the

mainland of New Guinea. Its home is in the foothills of the chief

mountain ranges between 1,000 and 3,000 feet.


Although it was described by Lesson over one hundred years ago

(1830), very little is known about its wild life.


It moves about in small parties, but is nowhere plentiful. Once

I saw five slowly flying along the face of a high cliff uttering loudly

their hoarse grating cries. It was an impressive sight.


They live entirely on soft berries, especially the figs of the ficus

trees. These figs, about the size of cherries, are sweet and sticky.


The parrots chew them up to extract the juice.


They have proved to be rather difficult birds to cater for in this

country.


Lord Tavistock's famous bird, which he gave to the late Mrs. Dalton-

Burgess in 1923 and was called by her “ The General,” was probably

the first to reach this country alive. This bird lived for some years

and did better than the many that have been imported in recent

years.



13



