ly upon various
nuts, seed and fruit, while some of the smaller parrakeets or paroquets
appear to feed almost exclusively upon the seeds of various grasses. Almost
all of these are comparatively easy to treat in captivity, the larger ones
being fed on maize, sunflower-seed, hemp, dari, oats, canary-seed, nuts and
various ripe fruits, while the grass-parrakeets thrive remarkably well on
little besides canary-seed and green food, the most suitable of which is
grass in flower, chickweed, groundsel and various seed-bearing weeds. But
there is another large group of parrots, the _Loriidae_ or brush-tongued
parrots, some of the most interesting and brightly coloured of the tribe,
which, when wild, subsist principally upon the pollen and nectar of
flowers, notably the various species of _Eucalyptus_, the filamented
tongues of these parrots being peculiarly adapted for obtaining this. In
captivity these birds have been found to live well upon sweetened milk-sop,
which is made by pouring boiling milk upon crumbled bread or biscuit. They
frequently learn to eat seed like other parrots, but, if fed exclusively
upon this, are apt, especially if deprived of abundance of exercise, to
suffer from fits which are usually fatal. Fruit is also readily eaten by
the lories and lorikeets, and should always be supplied.

The foreign doves and pigeons form a numerous and beautiful group which are
mostly hardy and easily kept and bred in captivity. They are for the most
part grain-feeders and require only small corn and seeds, though a certain
group, known as the fruit-pigeons, are fed in captivity upon soft fruits,
berries, boiled potato and soaked grain.

The various finches and finch-like birds form an exceedingly large group
and comprise perhaps the most popular of foreign aviary birds. The
weaver-birds of Africa are mostly quite hardy and very easily kept, their
food consisting, for the most part, of canary-seed. The males of these
birds are, as a rule, gorgeously attired in brilliant colours, some having
long flowing tail-feathers during the nuptial season, while in the winter
their showy dress is replaced by one of sparrow-like sombreness. The
grass-finches of Australasia contain some of the most brilliantly coloured
birds, the beautiful grass-finch (_Poephila mirabilis_) being resplendent
in crimson, green, mauve, blue and yellow. Most of these birds build their
nests, and many rear their young, successfully in outdoor aviaries, their
f