Psittacus hoematonotus, Russ. Synonyms: Psephotus hoematonotus, Gld., Bp., etc.; Platycercus hoematonotus, Wgm., Gr., etc. Euphema hoematonotus, Musi.

BLOOD OR RED - RUMPED PARRAKEET.

German: Der Singsittich.

THIS extremely pretty and elegant Parrakeet, also known by the name of Red-back, is rather less than the Cockatiel in size: its general disposition, at least as far as our experience of the species goes, is exceedingly unamiable, and we cannot recommend its being kept with other Parakeets: a pair, however, placed in a roomy aviary by themselves, will very soon set about reproducing their species, and succeed to admiration, which, as the bird is handsome, extremely lively, hardy, and gifted with quite a musical voice, is a fact to be remembered.

The general colour of the plumage in the male is rich grass green, with a blue reflection in certain lights, especially on the head and face, the belly is yellow, the rump red, the shoulders blue, and the tail dark bluish green; the colour of the beak is dark horn, the legs and feet grey.

The female is greyish green with a mottled appearance, arising from the fact of each feather being margined with a narrow line of a deeper shade of the general colour of the plumage, the shoulders are blue, the tail has a deep shade of blue, and the rump is bright green. So dissimilar are the sexes in appearance that they have been taken for different species by some of the earlier writers on Australian Par-rakeets.

These birds breed as freely in captivity as the Budgerigar or the Cockatiel, laying from three to five small eggs which the female alone incubates, her mate rendering her no assistance, his cheerful song, as he sits at no great distance from the hollow log that contains the precious eggs, excepted; for he does not even feed her, nor, as far as we have been able to ascertain, does he feed the young until these have left their natal log, and are able to fly about after him, and importune him for food.

We have found that half a cocoa-nut husk cemented into a small box made a capital nest that was much appreciated by these birds, which do not seem to care about excavating a dwelling for themselves, when a ready-made one has been placed at their disposal.

We fed on seeds only, canary, millet, hemp, oats of which they were particularly fond, and dry bread-crumb: Dr. Suss, however, recommends the following diet when the birds are nesting: - "Egg-bread, ants' eggs, softened rice and fruit; also mealworms, green food, and poppy seed."

We cannot endorse his further statement that they are sociable with little birds, " Vertraglich unter kleinen Vogeln", but they do nest readily (leicht), and bring up three or four broods in the season, as the doctor further relates: they are hardy, too, and will pass the coldest and most severe of our winter out of doors without injury.

The male and female are very much attached to each other, so much so that if one of them should escape, it will, after a fly round, return to its companion, and suffer itself to be captured without resistance.

These birds are very strong on the wing, and it is quite a pretty sight to see them wheeling round and round in the sunshine, or darting in and out among the trees, with the foliage of which their feathers harmonize so well in colour.

We believe that, like most of the Australian Parrots, the Redrumps are partially insectivorous, but they will, nevertheless, thrive perfectly well without insect food. In winter it is advisable to give them plenty of hemp, and they will then touch little else but that valuable and highly nitrogenized diet.

It is a pity they are so tyrannical and quarrelsome, for otherwise they are very nice, and the song of the male bird, especially during the season of love and courtship, is, as Mr. Wiener says, "quite surprisingly agreeable."

Dr. Bodinus, of Cologne, was the first person who bred these birds in Europe, but since then they have bred in innumerable aviaries in this country, as well as on the continent; and in fact more Redrumps are now yearly bred in Europe than are imported from Australia, and the price has fallen to about twenty or twenty-five shillings a pair.

The young resemble their parents in a general way when they leave the nest, bat their colours are duller and fainter in shade than those of the old ones, from whom, in about six or eight months, it is impossible to distinguish them.

We have read of hybrids between the Redrump and the Rosella, as well as several other kinds of Parrakeets, and we are quite prepared to believe in the possibility of such a cross, or crosses, for a female of this species that was in our possession for a considerable time actually paired with a Madagascar Love-bird (Agapornis cana), and, had she not fallen ill, would doubtless have bred mules with him.

Although, as we have said, these birds are hardy, the females are often troubled with egg-binding, and as this complication is of decidedly more frequent occurrence in aviary-bred than in imported specimens, we incline to the belief that debility is the cause of the misfortune, and that none but thoroughly strong and healthy birds should ever be put up for breeding; inattention to this simple rule entailing much less and disappointment on the amateur, as well as being the cause of much suffering, and often of death to the hapless bird herself.

We once had a fine healthy-looking hen Redrump that never laid an egg larger than that of a Budgerigar; and, strange to say, these miniature productions were devoid of yolk, and consequently sterile; she was aviary-bred, and there had, probably, been a good deal of inbreeding in her family.

In-breeding, as bird-fanciers know, is soon productive, in most cases, of disastrous consequences, and should always be avoided, unless it be desired to perpetuate some accidental peculiarity, or "sport"; in which case the offspring will, after a few generations, cease to breed among themselves, and the new variety die out, unless the strain be re-invigorated by the careful introduction of new blood.

"There are no song birds in Australia" is a complaint, more or less founded on fact, one often hears; but the Redrump sings, actually sings a very passable song, a fact which has procured for him in Germany the name of Singsittich.

We have not met with a talking Redrump, but as they can be rendered very tame and confiding, it is quite as likely that a young male, brought up from the nest, would learn to speak, as many other varieties of Parrakeets, including the Budgerigar, have done. It is, however, astonishing how greatly these birds differ among themselves in disposition and character, which accounts for the fact of their being described by one writer as gentle, tame, and confiding, and by another as irreclaimable and wild.