The above directions as to food hold good in general for the following genera : Grey Parrots, Black Parrots, Amazons, Noble Parrots or Eclecti (but for the last-named more fruit is advisable), all Cockatoos, and the Macaws.

All medium-sized parrots are fed with oats, hemp, canary seed, and millet; the smaller kinds solely with the three last-named seeds. No hemp should be given the latter, because it is said to be injurious to them; whereas for the former, as well as for the larger species, it is considered one of the best articles of diet, especially if they are very weak. As an addition, there are various other seeds - many kinds of millet (white, Senegal, and the different kinds which grow in the ear) - which may be given, as well as dry or fresh ears of corn, besides sunflower, dyer's saffron, and other seeds. With the exception of the oats and other grain, the latter, as well as all kinds of grass seeds, should rather be given in ears and panicles; also heads of maize, half ripe. Oily seeds should never be given before they are fully ripe, for they may thus be very injurious, hemp especially. Some species, such as the large Alexandrine Parrakeet, eat dry maize, like the great parrots. To most of these it is absolutely necessary to give some sweet fruit daily, not merely occasionally, as with the former. On the whole, the instructions given on p. 29 also hold good here; but there is less need to be anxious about giving southern fruits if only the precaution be taken to taste each separately. Green food is also a necessity for these species, and I recommend, besides the common chickweed, mignonette and tradescantia (spiderwort); cabbage and salad should never be given to these parrots. All green food must, of course, be in the best condition - clean, dry, not wet with dew or rain, on no account mildewed, or beginning to decay - and care should be taken that no leaves in such a condition be among it. Many of these species are bred in captivity *, and then they require, in addition to varieties of seed and fruit, some animal food, such as ant-grubs and mealworms. When kept only as speakers they should seldom or never get this food. With respect to tit-bits of all kinds, and the gnawing of branches or sticks, the directions given for the large parrots may be exactly followed.

The genera to which the foregoing remarks apply are the following: Long-winged Parrots, Cockatiels, Long-billed Parra-keets (Henicognathus), Noble or Alexandrine Parrakeets, Wedge-tailed Parrakeets, Thick-billed Parrakeets, Slender-billed Parrakeets, Flat-tailed Parrakeets, and Undulated Parrakeets.

The members of the remaining group, the Lories, must be differently fed, in accordance with their food in freedom. It is less possible in their case than in that of any other species to give the natural nourishment, for they are said to subsist partly on extremely sugary tropical fruits, and honey from the blossoms, and partly on insects. Of the substitutes which have been given them, and, I am pleased to say, with the best results, I will speak at greater length when describing this genus fully. Here, however, I may state explicitly that many of the articles of diet given satisfactorily in hot regions, especially soaked Indian rice, + boiled potatoes, tropical fruits, such as bananas, etc, very often - indeed, almost invariably - cause sickness and death. On the contrary, experience has taught us that the Broad-tailed or True Lories, and the Lorikeets, can only be considered hardy in this country when they are quite accustomed to live on seed, principally canary seed, but also on the different kinds of millet and oats. Some, such as the Blue Mountain Lory, eat seed by preference. Besides the two genera mentioned above, the Cropped-tailed Lory, or Nestor, may be here included. Although it has been asserted that it must get raw meat, it has been proved that it will keep in perfectly good health on the same food as its fellows.

Having given so many directions upon this subject, it is only necessary for me to repeat now that all the articles of food which a parrot gets must be in every respect in perfectly good condition. All seed must be full grown and well ripened, free from dirt and foreign seeds; not too fresh (hemp especially), or it may cause diarrhoea; nevertheless, not dried up nor rancid. It is also important, with regard to fruit, that it should not have been plucked too soon, then ripened, and probably become sour, but well grown, and ripened on the tree. Nor must it be in a soft state, over ripe and "squashy," but fresh and well flavoured. Careful attention must be given that in winter it be not icy cold, but only given after it has been cut into several pieces, laid in a warm room, and acquired the temperature of the surrounding air. If white bread be given, it must be well baked, as said before, without leaven, and without, or with only the least possible quantity of barm, not doughy or unevenly baked, but spongy and porous. It is also as important that it be not moistened in too much water, or for too long, lest all the nourishment be taken away.

* Directions for the breeding of parrots may be found in Russ' "Manual for Bird Fanciers" (Handbuch fur Vogelliebbaber," Vol. I.; Magdeburg).

+ The rice should be soaked in water, and then parboiled, the water poured off and the pot with the half-cooked grains put in a hot place, and allowed to steam until fully cooked. Rice thus prepared is said to taste better, and to be more wholesome, than when wholly cooked in water.

The directions hitherto given should serve as a general guide for the feeding of the parrots here treated of. Of course, I shall enter into fuller particulars of the special management and diet of each species when I speak in detail of each.

All birds, and therefore all parrots, the single speaker, as well as the breeding couple, need lime to eat. Animal lime, in the form of the cuttlefish shell, appears most suitable, is eaten with relish on account of the salt contained in it, and is very wholesome. It is necessary, however, to avoid giving it to newly imported parrots, as it may cause immoderate thirst, and the drinking of much water, to which they are unaccustomed, tends to bring on diarrhoea. A whole shell, or at least a large piece, should be wedged between the bars of the cage. The next best thing is calcined oyster shells; lime from old walls, and chalk, may also be recommended. Sand - good, clean, dry, fine sand, not dusty (silver sand is best) is - not only one of the best means of cleansing the cage, and keeping it clean, but it is also a necessity for health, as parrots, like other birds, swallow small stones to aid digestion.

I will return later on to the subject of the Grey Parrots, Amazons, and others, as I have already mentioned, being often kept entirely without water. I may, however, here incidentally mention that I consider such treatment to be thoroughly injurious, and would impressively warn anyone against buying a parrot which has been kept without water to drink. The common custom of giving bread soaked in tea or coffee is, in my opinion, most mischievous, for, on the one hand, the small quantity of, it may be, warm fluid cannot satisfy the natural craving, and, on the other, mashy food overloads the stomach, disturbs the digestion, and thus either makes the bird ill, or is insufficient to maintain it in good health for any length of time, especially if, as is often unfortunately the case, it is entirely or even chiefly, fed on it, or if it lives on as much as it can get of this food, and refuses the more wholesome corn diet.

"With regard to drinking water, there are special precautionary measures to be attended to. Just as a human being may become more or less seriously ill if he drinks water from a strange well, without becoming gradually accustomed to it, so is it with birds, particularly with parrots. They should, therefore, at first only be allowed cold water which has been boiled, and not too much at a time, at most five mouthfuls at once, and that about twice daily. By degrees the boiled water may be mixed with common water; it must not be quite fresh or ice cold, but should have stood about an hour, and have acquired the temperature of the room. Even when the parrot is fully acclimatised it should only get lukewarm water. The smaller species are mostly accustomed to an abundance of drinking and bathing water; they must, therefore, get it, but always with the precaution that it should be lukewarm.