380 EYELID OF THE RINGED PARRAKEET. 



" Soon after this we came to Washington, and then saw for the first time our little pet, 

 which soon began to know and love me. Her favorite place is on my shoulder, where at 

 lunch -time she delights to sit and digest after having pecked from my plate whatever sin- 

 most fancies. If the weather be cold and her feet chilly, she pulls herself up by my whiskers, 

 placing herself on the top of my head, which being partially bald is warm to her little pattes. 

 Her favorite resort is generally on my shoulder, and whilst sitting there, her manner of attract- 

 ing attention is by giving my ear a little peck. 



" Whenever I come home, and wherever Polly may be, no sooner do I put my key in the 

 lock, or sometimes before I have quite reached the door, than Polly gives a peculiar shrill 

 call, and then it is known for certain that I am in the house. Even when I go to bed, though 

 it maybe at one or two in the morning, on my entering the room, however gently, Polly kno\vs 

 I am there, and although apparently asleep and with two thick shawls wrapped round her cage, 

 excluding all light, she immediately utters one little note of welcome. 



"She has a peculiar way of contracting her eye when preparing to do or actually doing 

 anything mischievous : when so contracted, the pupil of the eye appears as it were a mere 

 speck of jet. I believe that her fondness for and her sympathetic attachment to me were some- 

 thing more than mere instinct, for if I think strangely of her at any time, even in the middle of 

 the night, she is sure to answer me with her own little note, her eyes remaining shut and her 

 head tucked in her shoulder as though she were fast asleep." 



I have noticed the peculiar movement of the eye referred to in this narrative, and must 

 add that the entire eyelid partakes of this curious contraction, the bird possessing the power 

 of circularly contracting the lid, at first quite smoothly, but afterwards with a multitude 

 of tiny radiating wrinkles or puckers, until at last the aperture is reduced to the size of 

 a small pin-hole. It looks, to use a familiar illustration, as if the eyelid were made of India- 

 rubber, and could be contracted or relaxed at will. 



Perhaps this power of reducing the aperture of vision may be given to the bird for the pur- 

 pose of enabling it to see the better, and may have some connection with the united micro- 

 scopic and telescopic vision which all birds possess in a greater less or degree. 



This species of Parrakeet is not very good at talking, though it can learn to repeat a few 

 words and is very apt at communicating its own ideas by a language of gesture and informa- 

 tion especially its own. It is, however, very docile, and will soon learn any lesson that may 

 be imposed, even that most difficult task to a Parrot remaining silent while any one is 

 speaking. One of my pupils had one of these birds, of which he was exceedingly fond ; and 

 finding that, although his body was in the school-room below, his mind was with his Polly 

 in the room above, I allowed her to stay in the room on condition that the lesson should 

 be properly learned. At first, however, Polly used to screech so continually that all lessons 

 were stopped for the time, and I was fearful that Polly must be banished. However, I soon 

 overcame the difficulty, for every time that Polly screamed I used to put her into a dark 

 cupboard and not release her for some time. She soon found out my meaning, and it was very 

 amusing to see her push out her head ready for a scream, and then check herself suddenly. 



She was a very nice Polly, and became a great favorite. Her great treat was a half walnut, 

 which she held tightly in one claw while she delicately prized out the kernel with her hooked 

 bill and horny tongue. The end of the poor bird was very tragic ; she got out of window, 

 flew to a tree, and was there shot by a stupid farmer. The history of this bird is given more 

 at length in "My Feathered Friends." 



The general color of this species is grass-green, variegated in the adult male as follows : 

 The feathers of the forehead are light green, which take a bluish tinge as they approach the 

 crown and nape of the neck, where they are of a lovely purple blue. Just below the purple 

 runs a narrow band of rose color, and immediately below the rosy line is a streak of black, 

 which is narrow towards the back of the neck, but soon becomes broader and envelops the 

 cheek and chin. It does not go quite round the neck, as there is an interval of nearly half an 

 inch on the back of the neck. The quill-feathers of both wings and tail are darkish green ; 

 the wings are black beneath, and the tail yellowish. The two central feathers of the tail are 



