canopy of the forest when it feeds and rests. It usually moves around alone or in small groups and is less gregarious than the rose-ringed parakeet. When flying, the echo parakeet is good at exploiting updraughts while traversing ridges and flying over cliffs. It flies more slowly than the rose-ringed parakeet and has slower wing beats. It is adept at flying, though only for short distances, and is able to manoeuvre rapidly between the openings of the canopy. Like other Mauritian birds, echo parakeets are tame, more so during winter when food is scarce; they become more wary during the summer, when food is more readily available, and it becomes more difficult for humans to approach the birds. Breeding birds in nests are not disturbed by nearby cars and are not alarmed when their nests are examined. Echo parakeets mostly moult their feathers during summer, with variation in timing between individual birds and years. The body starts moulting in late winter, continuing for months, and the primary moult starts between November and January, well before the tail moults in March or April. Most of the echo parakeets have fully moulted by the end of June. The longevity of the species is unknown, but it can reach at least eight years. The activity patterns of the echo parakeet are similar to those of other Psittacula parakeets in most respects. They mainly forage during mid-morning and mid- and late afternoon, and bad weather does not disrupt this activity. Groups rest and preen on large trees during the middle of the day (and occasionally at other times); these trees are usually not used for roosting. They are most active and vocal during the afternoon when they travel to and from feeding areas. They are very excitable during the hour before dusk (the time they roost), when they fly around in groups calling frequently, and briefly perch in treetops, before circling around again. They usually roost in sheltered areas on hillsides and ravines, preferring trees with dense foliage (such as Eugenia, Erythroxylum, or Labourdonnaisia), where they perch close to the trunks or in cavities. The number of birds recorded in individual roosting sites ranges from one to eleven. The birds usually leave a roosting site quietly in the morning, though some have been observed staying for several more hours. Breeding The breeding behaviour of the echo parakeet is similar to that of other Psittacula