Linda Richardson, age 12, of Columbus, Ohio, for her question:

Where do parakeets come from?

Parakeets are small cousins of the parrots, macaws and cockatoos. This gaudy, sassy family of birds enjoys life in warm climates. Its members make charming decorative pets. But at one time it was unsafe to keep them. The bite of any parrot type bird is likely to cause the dread parrot fever. And any parrot type bird is likely to give your finger a playful bite. Now we have antibiotics to control the dread disease. And parrots and their various cousins have become safe and popular pets.

There are various sorts of small parrots called parakeets. There are the affectionate darlings we call lovebirds. These sweethearts come to us from warm and sunny Africa. There are the sassy budgies. These chatterboxes are the budgerigars, whose native home is Australia. There are the cute little bat parrots, who go to sleep hanging upside down like gaily feathered bats. These charmers come to us for adoption from the Philippine Islands.