Some Colony Birds. 179 



Six inches in extreme length, of which the tail is nearly 

 two, the bird is a dull, homely, olive-grey above and light 

 olive, fading into yellowish grey, below. There are two bars 

 of yellow-olive upon the wings, the two lines of upper wing 

 coverts being tipped with this colour; the outer edges of the 

 primaries are also of the same colour; the vent feathers are 

 yellowish-green; the under-wing coverts are also light yellow. 

 The bird has a conical crest which is generally kept erect. 



Its note is like a low-toned policeman's whistle, whre ah. 



The mated plairs have a habit, comimon to kiskadees and some 

 other tyrant birds, of taking a sTiort flight together and then 

 alighting, of saluting each other with shaking wings; and 

 whereas the kiskadee utters his own name several times, 

 little pagana seems to say, " Wre — wre—wre, look at me, 

 look at m£ !" 



Its name pagana must refer to its rustic appearance 

 for the bird is common in towns, and in Georgetown its little 

 pea-whistle, as T may call it, is heard at intervals througliout 

 the day. True to its name, however, it remains unsophisticated. 



It has the habits of a fly-catcher, though one I once 

 possessed subsisted on a diet of bread and milk, fruit, etc. 

 But this was due I think to the excessive friendliness of a 

 black-faced tanager which, as soon as I ^ut the stranger into 

 the; cage, flew to it and showed it signs of undisguised aft"ec- 

 tion, caressing it and twittering to it. And thus it seemed to 

 speak: "Friend, take it not toa much to heart that you are 

 captive. Captivity is not so base a thing as it may seem. 

 Here we have wholesome food in plenty, with neither hawks, 

 nor cats, nor boys with stones our souls to vex. How nice 

 it turns about I And in this mirror's smooth and glassy 



surface we see reflected our most noble selves " 



And so the rustic tyrant-bird took heart of grace and lived 

 contented. 



Parrots. But I must no longer delay writing about 

 parrots, the most intelligent and, in inany respects, the most 

 interesting of all the feathered tribes. Of the five hundred 

 species of this great family found in tropical countries 

 throughout the world twenty-five or more belong to this 



