96 ■ 



The Analidcc and the Slnithionidce present some 

 analogy with the genns Coracopsis in this respect, but 

 with these exceptions there are no birds known to the 

 present writer possessed of the same peculiarity, 

 which, as might have been expected, is confined to 

 the males. 



There are four species of Vasa Parrots known, 

 namel3% the Greater and Lesser Vasas, the Praslin and 

 the Comorin Parrots : the two first are natives of 

 Madagascar, and the latter two of the islands of which 

 they respectively bear the names. The Comorin 

 Parrot is exceedingly rare, so much so that no speci- 

 men of it has so far been seen in the menagerie of the 

 London Zoological Society. The three other Vasas 

 are clad in dingy black and have greyish-white man- 

 dibles, but the Comorin has a brown bill and its 

 plumage is enlivened with metallic reflections ; it is 

 about tlie same size as the Lesser Vasa, which equals 

 that of a rather small Grey Parrot. 



It would be very interesting to learn if any other 

 readers of this magazine have noticed the sexual 

 peculiarities referred to above, but which cannot, for 

 obvious reasons be more explicitly alluded to in these 

 pages. 



The Vasas generally are excellent whistlers and 

 mimics, but poor talkers, Vjut they become, though 

 naturally timid, very tame and familiar in confinement, 

 and would make most delightful pets but for the 

 reason mentioned. They are hardy and long-lived 

 too, and one of the Greater Vasas lived for no less 

 than fifty-three years in the Parrot House at the Zoo., 

 and that in the days when parrots of all descriptions 

 w^ere believed never to drink, and were, consequently, 

 never allowed any fluid wherewith to quench their 

 thirst, so that they might often be seen eating their 

 own droppings for the sake of the moisture. 



