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young birds became wild and unsatisfactory as they 

 grew up. On the other hand, when free they are really 

 handsome birds, which generally go about in flocks 

 of from 20 to 30, conspicuous, when on the wing, 

 for their rapid whizzing flight, their gleaming green 

 plumage and outspread tail, but most difficult to see 

 when feeding on a leafy tree, though their presence is 

 always manifest by their constant shrill screaming. 



The Senegal Parrot is my ideal pet in the parrot 

 line, the very antithesis of the Ringneck ; easily tamed, 

 quiet and intelligent. It makes no difference whether 

 it is taken old or young, in three or four days it is 

 practically tame, and in a week obviously delights in 

 being scratched and shows every sign of enjoying the 

 attentions and presence of its owner. The one I have 

 now, though an old bird, which fought and bit 

 savagely when first brought to me, began to feed 

 within twenty-four hours, and was safe to handle in 

 three days ; and every bird of this kind, which I have 

 kept or seen, has shown just the same natural tame- 

 ness and adaptability to captivity. When wild, how- 

 ever, they are extremely wary birds, never feeding 

 without one of their number stationed on an elevated 

 position to keep a sharp look-out for dangerous 

 intruders. They usually go about in flocks of about 

 the same size as those of the Ringnecks, but unlike 

 them are slow (though strong) flyers, progressing by 

 sharp short strokes, the points of the wings almost 

 meeting beneath the body at each stroke. In the open 

 the brilliant yellow of the breast and bright green 

 of the upper parts are very striking ; but these two 

 colours (as is also the case in the similarly marked 

 Green Fruit - Pigeon), harmonise so well with the 

 dead and living leaves, that in a tree these birds are 

 among the most difficult of all to distinguish. They 

 breed from about May to September, laying two eggs 

 in a hole in a tree. Their call note is much more of a 



