I'ARRAKEETS. 



109 



Mr. Walter Goodfellow (The Ibis, 1902, p. 220) says : 

 " A very common bird on the Lower Napo, but un- 

 known on the upper parts of the river. On our canoe- 

 journcv down the stream we found it congregating 

 along 'the banks by thousands in the evening. If 

 dif-turbed the flocks" flew around with such deafening 

 cries that it was impossible to hear each other speak. 

 The Indians delighted in disturbing them. They 

 roosted in trees growing in marshy ground and where 

 the river-banks were less dense than elsewhere. They 

 were nesting on the Maranon in August." 



This is by no means a common species; indeed, "Mv. 

 lMiilli|i|is speaks of one in his possession as the only 

 living example he has seen, and he was informed that 

 it was the only one in Europe ; it has, however, on 

 several occasion's, been an inhabitant of our London Zoo- 

 logical Gardens, a specimen having been purchased as 

 long ago as 1852, a second presented in 1870, a third pur- 

 <'hased in 1871, and the illustration in Mr. Seth-Smith"s 

 " Parrakeets " was drawn from an example living in 

 the Gardens, probably in 1902. 



Orange-flanked Parrakkkt {/Irolnt/eri/.^ pyrrhopteruf). 



The male above is dark green, below more yellowish; 

 the forehead, lores, chin, and cheeks grey; crown bluish- 

 green ; outer webs of flights bluish, inner webs broadly 

 blackish with narrow yellow edges ; greater coverts and 

 bastard wing dark blue ; under wing-coverts deep 

 orange ; beak pale flesh-coloured ; feet flesh-coloured ; 

 iris brown. Female apparently smaller, and with 

 shorter beak. Hab., Western Ecuador and North- 

 western Peru. 



Stolzmann says (Taczanowski's " Ornithologie du 

 Perou. Vol. III., p. 206): "Occurs in large flocks; 

 all the pairs are mi.xed during flight. As noisy as the 

 other Parrakeets, they love to assemble on the same tree 

 when its food attracts them. The inhabitants assert 

 that it nidificates in the nests of termites, which has 

 been proved in the case of several other species. From 

 Guayaquil a great number of these Parrakeets is sup- 

 plied for the whole Peruvian coast ; it is said that it 

 learns to talk, but I have never met with an instance. 

 Those which are reared imitate fowls. I have had 

 an opportunity of verifying its hatred of the little 

 Parrakeet of "the coast (I'i'itiacula crtlestis), for on 

 jilacing one in their cage they flew down in a great 

 rage and began to attack it; then, when that Parrakeet 

 was wounded, they mangled it in an atrocious manner. 

 The sight of a cat or an owl frightens them extremely. 

 In the month of April Jl. Jelski has seen the young 

 completely fledged. Its name is periro." 



ilr. Walter Goodfellow [The Ariniltiiral Mar/azive, 

 First Series, Vol. VI., p. 68) says : "The Ecuadorians 

 seem to take no interest whatever in the bird life which 

 surrounds them on every side, and it is quite the ex- 

 <^eption rather than the rule to find them keeping birds 

 in captivity, and when they do their ambition does 

 not soar beyond a Parrot. However, at times in 

 Guayaquil birds are offered for sale in fair quantities, 

 even if the varieties in vogue are limited. No doubt 

 the European population has caused a certain demand 

 for them there, and prices range very cheap indeed — 

 1 real (2^d.) or 2 reals each seems to be the usual 

 price for almost any bird. At the former price can 

 be bought any nimiber of the little Orange-flanked 

 Parrakeets, and very tame indeed they all seem. There 

 birds are exceedingly common in the neighbourhood, 

 and can be met with almost anywhere in vast flocks. 

 ' Paviches,' they are locally called. They commit 

 great damage in the banana plantations, and bananas 

 seem to be their staple food in captivity." 



Dr. Rues says that this is one of the rarest species. 

 Mrs. Strutzky, of Berlin, had one for nine years which 

 had previously been in captivity six to eight years. It 

 was very tame, sensible and pleasing, spoke several 

 words, and could laugh like a human being. 



Although formerly rare in the market, this very 

 noisy little species is now pretty freely imported, yet 

 is still expensive. The first specimens exhibited at 

 Regent's Park were purchased in 1852, since which date 

 teveral others have been acquired. 



Tovi Parrakeet [Brotoi/erys juijulariii). 



Green above, more yellowish below ; the head scapu- 

 lars, lower back, rump, two central tail-feathers, and 

 abdomen more or less bluish ; lesser upper wing- 

 coverts olive brown ; primary-coverts deep blue ; an 

 orange spot on the chin ; lesser under wing-coverts 

 yellow ; beak, pale brownish flesh-coloured ; feet 

 yellowish flesh-coloured ; iris brown. Female with 

 narrower, shorter and more arched beak. Hab., South 

 Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. 



This is a common species which, like many other 

 Parrakeets, feeds partly upon fruit in its wild state. 

 It breeds in nests of the white ant. Mr. Walter Good- 

 fellow [Thu IbU, 1902, p. 220) says : "Fairly numerous 

 on the upper parts of the Napo, but not seen by us 

 on the lower parts of the river. We saw young in 

 the possession of the Indians in April." 



Although not infrequently imported and bred by 

 several German aviculturists, Dr. Rues, in his hand- 

 book, was unable to give any details as to the breeding ; 

 he, however, tells us of one specimen which learned to 

 speak several words distinctly from an Amazon Parrot. 



Mr. Phillipps speaks of a very tame pair of this 

 species which he possessed, and which used to follow 

 him and settle on his head and shoulders. The Zoo- 

 logical Society purchased its first specimen of the bird 

 in 1872; oddly enough, although this seems to be one 

 of the most charming representatives of the genus, 

 very few examples have found their way to the Regent's 

 Park Gardens. 



Golden-fronted Parrakeet (Brotogerys tuipara). 



The male is green with somewhat lighter under- 

 surf ace ; forehead, chin, and primary coverts, orange ; 

 flights deep blue, tipped and edged with green ; greater 

 under wing-coverts and inirer webs of flights below 

 blue ; lateral tail-feathers with their inner webs edged 

 with yellow ; beak and feet horn-whitish ; naked skin 

 encircling eye broad and bluish-white ; iris deep brown. 

 Female with longer beak, less arched, and not showing 

 a defined angle at end of cutting edge of upper mandi- 

 ble when viewed from above. Hab., Lower Amazons. 



Dr. E. A. Goeldi, in an article on an expedition up 

 the Capim River [The Ibi-<, 1903, p. 481), says : " The 

 beautifully orange-marked Brotor/erys tuipaia was ob- 

 served opening the fruits of a gigantic Jlonguba tree 

 [Bombax inorKjiiba) in search of the seeds, and its crop 

 was filled with masses of the substance thence pro- 

 cured. The same predilection for Mongiiba seeds I 

 had already observed several times in Para." 



Although not frequently imported, tnis Parrakeet 

 was living in our Zoological Gardens in 1879, and Mr. 

 Phillipps has possessed two females, which he describes 

 as very timid birds. One of these paired with a 

 Musky Lorikeet, and laid four clear eggs, which are 

 described as "round ovals of large size, larger than 

 those of the Golden-shouldered Parrakeet, but not ex- 

 hibiting the slight inclination to quince-shape of most 

 of the eggs of the Tcvi with which I was favoured 



