THE INDIAX i'AKKOT.'' 



The birds distinguished by Vaillant as the parrots ^\■ith a trunlv, have characters 

 sufRciontly peculiar by which they may be delaclied from others. 



Their short and square tail, and crest composed of long and narrow feathers, assimilate 

 them to the cockatoos. They have the cheeks naked like the aras ; but their bill -with an 

 enormous upper mandible, and the lower very short, which cannot, therefore, be entirely 

 closed ; their cylindrical tongue, terminated bj' a little concave gland cleft at the end, 

 and capable of being protruded out of the mouth ; their legs naked a little above the 

 talons ; their tarsi short and flat, on which they frequently support themselves in walking, 

 distin<^uish them from all other parrots. 



swindekn's pakrot. 

 This beautiful little species is a native of Soutliern Africa, and was first described and 

 figured by Kuhl, in his " Conspectus Psittacorum," under the title of Pbiffaciis Sirin- 

 dcriamis ; it was included in that section named by him Psittacida, in which he placed 

 the whole of the smaller species with short and even or slightl}^ rounded tails — an 

 artificial division, and established without due regard to the structure, habits, or 

 distribution of the .species. Little is known respecting its natural history, being a bird of 

 rare occurrence, and even now only seen in a few collections. In the form and strength 

 of its bill, it shows an afiinity to the larger parrots, which is still more strongly indicated 

 in another species, the Pdtlacun Mallaceeims of Latham. Li size it is among the smallest 

 of its race, its extreme length being about six inches. The bill is black and strong, 

 with the upper mandible emarginate. The head and nape arc of a beautiful lively green, 

 bounded by a black nuchal collar ; the neck and breast are yellow'ish green ; the lower 

 back and upper tail coverts are deep azure blue. The tail, which is short, and nearly 

 even, has the two intermediate feathers wholly green ; the rest on each side have their 

 basal half vermilion-red, bounded by a bar of black, the tips being green. The legs 

 and toes are grayish-black. The wings are long, and whru closed reach to the end of the 

 tail. 



• Microglosum Atercimum. — Lisson. 



