248 PSITTACID^. 



when flying. They feed on grain and fruit. They lay from 2 to 4 

 white eggs in a hole made by themselves in the trunk of a tree or 

 in a large branch. Average size of fifty eggs V2 by '95. These 

 Parrots are less commonly kept tame than P. torquatus, and are 

 less fi'equently taught to talk. 



1135. Palaeornis nepalensis. The Large Indian Paroquet. 



Palaeornis nepalensis, Hodgs. As. Res. xix, p. 177 (1836) ; Raineyj 

 S. F. iii, p. 382 ; Hume, S. F. vii, p. 458 ; id. Cat. no. 147 ter ; 

 Scully,^ S. F. viii, p. 239 ; 8alvadori, Cat. B. M. xx, p. 437. 



Palaeornis alexandri, apud Jerdon, Madr. Jour. L. S. xi, p. 208 ; 

 Blyth, Cat. p. 4, partim ; Horsf. 8,- M. Cat. ii, p. 610, pt. ; 

 Adains, P. Z. S. 1859, p. 173 ; Jerd. B. I. i, p. 256, pt. ; Blyth, 

 Ibis, 1863, p. 1, pt. ; McMaster, J. A. S. B. xl, pt. 2, p. 208; 

 nee Psittacus alexandri, L. 



Palaeornis sivalensis, sacer, pmijahi, and vindhiana, Hutton, S, F. i, 

 pp. 335-338 (1873). 



Palaeornis sivalensis, Hume, S. F. ii, p. 9 ; vi, p. 117. 



Palaeornis eupatrius, ajmd Ball, S. F. ii, p. 389 ; vii, p. 205 ; David- 

 son, S. F. X, p. 296 ; Taylor, S. F. x, p. 457 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. 

 p. 108 : Oates in Hume's N. ^ E. 2nd ed. iii, p. 82, partim; nee Linn. 

 The Alexandrine Parrakeet, Jerdon; Chandana, B.: Clianda-han-i, 

 H. (Mussooree) ; Karan-suga, Kararia, Nepal ; Ne-tso, Lepcha ; Rai Tota, 

 II. ; Pedda ehilluka, Tel. ; Peria killi. Tarn. 



Coloration of both sexes the same as that of P. enpatria except 

 that the black mandibular band is very broad, and that the occiput, 

 nape, and cheeks are more or less washed with bluish grey. The 

 size is considerably larger and the bill conspicuously more massive. 



Length about 21; tail 12-5; wing 8*5; tarsus '8; bill from 

 cere 1 ; depth of upper mandible "8. Females rather smaller. 

 The tarsus in Himalayan birds is dirty flesh-coloured or yellowish. 



Distrih%itio7i. Northern and Central India, from the Lower 

 Himalayas to the Central Provinces (Kamptee, Eaipur, Sambalpur) 

 and the Northern Circars, and from Kangra, the Jhelum district 

 of the Punjab, and Mount Abu to Bengal (Rajmehal hills and, 

 according to some, Calcutta). Eare or wanting in the Bombay 

 Presidency south of the Satpura range in Khandesh. It is 

 uncertain whether the Sundarban rose-band Paroquets should be 

 referred to this or the next form. 



Habits, 6fc. Those of P. eupatria. The breeding-season varies 

 somewhat in different parts of the country, being usually from 

 December, or even earlier, till March; but in Hume's 'Nests and 

 Eggs,' 2nd ed., either this species or the next is said to breed in 

 the Eastern Sundarbans from March to May. In the Kangra 

 valley P. nepalensis breeds in April. An egg taken there by 

 Major Cock measured 1*52 by '95. 



1136. Palaeornis indoburmanicus. The Large Burmese Paroquet. 



Palaeornis alexandri, apvd Blyth, Cat. p. 4, partim ; Jeraon, B, I. 



i, p. 256, pt. ; Blyth, Birds Bnrm. p. 54 ; nee Linn. 

 Palaeornis eupatrius, apud Wald. in BlytKs Birds Burm. p. 55 ; 



Anders. Yunnan Fayed., Axes, p. 567 ; nee Linn. 



