182 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



pips, and even cuts the acrid cashew-nut to extract the 

 kernel, which the others will not do. 



" The present and the preceding species build in holes 

 in lofty trees : often a hollow bread-nut is chosen, and 

 often the capacious and comfortable cavity chiselled 

 out bv the Woodpecker. Four eggs are usually laid ; 

 and when the green feathers begin to clothe the callow 

 heads of the promising family, they are too often taken 

 by some daring youth, who, having watched the parent 

 to her hole, climbs the giddy elevation. He feeds the 

 young with ripe plantain or banana, till they approach 

 maturity, and their appetites can digest plainer food ; 

 for when grown they will eat almost anything." 



Greens ("Parrots in Captivity," Vol. III., p. 95) 

 calk thiie bird "Jamaica Parrot, or White-fronted 

 Amaz4:)n," which looks as if he failed to distinguish it 

 from C . hucorej^hala. This, however, is not the case, 

 for he calls the latter " C^vban Parrot, or Red-throated 

 White-headed Amazon." surely a most cimitexjus name! 

 I prefer to follow the London Zoological (Society's list 

 in these instances. 



This Amazon, like its close allies, is not generally 

 considered very gifted as a talker. Greene, who seeims 

 never to have kept the bird, save boldly that " it is 

 best dieted on boiled maize and hempeeed, with an 

 occasional tit-bit in t'Ke shape of some i-ii>e fruit, or a 

 morsel of sweet calce or biscuit, but animal food should 

 be strictly prohffiited." I fancy that a diet consisting 

 solely of two heating seeds ancl only finiit occasionally 

 would epeedily upset this or any Amazon. 



The London Zoological Society acquired its first speci- 

 men of this bird in 1869, and two others reached the 

 Gardens in 1873 ; others- have been added subsequently. 



Active Am-Izon {Chri/solis agilis). 



Green ; the top of the head darker and bluish ; 

 feathere of neck eligiitly edged with black ; primary- 

 covert.=i red; the primaries black, all excepting the first 

 with the outer webe, especially at base, blue edged with 

 green; secondaries blue, green at base of outer webs; 

 tail witli the inner webs of lateral feathers red, the 

 outer w-ebs of the outer feathers bluish ; under-euriace 

 rather paler green than aibove, the under tail-coverts 

 yellowish-green ; gi'eater under wing-coverts and part 

 of inner webs of flights below verditea'-green ; beak 

 greyiBh-blaok, with a pale spot at base of upper man- 

 dible ; cei'e blackish-grey; feet greyish-black; irides 

 dark brown. Female with a shorter and 'rather broader 

 beak, with shorter terminal hook. Hab., .lamaica. 



Gosse says (" Birds of Jamaica," pp. 266-268) : " Flocks 

 varying from half-a-dozen to twenty or thirty iiy 

 hither and thither over the forest, sc;reechiiig as they 

 go, an-d .all alight together on some tre« covered with 

 berries. Here they feast, but with caution ; on a slight 

 alarm one screams, and the whole flock is on the wing, 

 vociferous if not musical, and brilliant if not beautiful, 

 particularly when tlie sun sliines on their green hacks 

 and crimsoned wings. They generally preferlofty trees, 

 except when, in June, the ripe yellow plantain tempts 

 them to descend, or when the black berry shines npon 

 the pimento. Of the latter the flocks devour an immense 

 quantity, and the former they destroy by cutting it to 

 jjieces with their powerful l>eaks. to get at the seeds. 



" One day in Jaiurai-y, when the pimento on the brow 

 of Bluefields iloivntain was aljout ready for picking, 

 being full-sized, but yet gi-een and' hard. I obser\-ed 

 large flocks of Black-bills and a few Pairroquefe flying 

 to and fro with voluble chatter, now alighting to "feed 

 on the hot, aromatic berry, now flying off and wheelinn- 



round to the same neighbourhood again. They were not 

 at all shy, but, with unusual carelessness o£ our proxi- 

 mity, scarcely moved at the report of the gmi -which 

 brought their companions to the ground. Of two which 

 I shot on this occasion I found the craws stuffed with 

 the cotyledons of the seed' alone, the most pungently 

 aromatic pa-rt of the beriT. the fleshy part having been, 

 as I presume, ehom oft' by the beak and rejected. Wheii 

 alighted, as is often the case, on a dry branch, their 

 emerald hue is conspicuous and affords a fair mark for 

 the gunner; but in a tree of full foliage their colour 

 proves an excellent concealment. They seem aware of 

 this, and their sagacity prompts them fiiequently to 

 l^©ly on it for security. Often we hear their voices pro- 

 ceeding fronr a certain tree, or else have marked the 

 descent of a flock upon it, but on proceeding to the 

 spot, though the eye has not wandered from dt. and 

 we are therefore snre that they are there, we icannot 

 discover an individual. We go close to the tree, but 

 all is silent and stUl as death ; Tve institute a careful 

 eurvey of every part with the eye, to detect the slightest 

 motion, or the form of a bird among the leaves, but in 

 vain. We begin to think that they have stolen, off 

 unperoeived, but on throwing a stone into the tree a 

 dozen throats burst forth into en', and as many gcreen 

 birdg rush foi-th upon the wing." 



The first specimen of this speoies exhibited at the 

 Gardens in Regent's Panic was purcliased in 1873, and 

 I ami not aware that any otliei- has been i-eceived since 

 that date. Rubs asserts that it has only been in evi- 

 dence at the 'London Zoological Gardens. 



Short-tailed Parrot {Pachynus Jyrachyurus). 



Green ; upper tail-coverts yellowish-gi^en ; primaries 

 and primary -coverts darker gi-een ; eecond^ariee and 

 greater wing-coverts with yellowish-green edges'; a dark 

 red patch on front edge of smaller wing-ooverts; tail 

 yellowish-green, greener on oentral featliers, a red band 

 near base of lateral feathers ; under-surface yellowish- 

 green ; under wing-coverts gi^eener, excepting at the 

 edges ; gi'eater coverte and flights below verditer-green ; 

 beak dusky horn-gi'ey ; feet brown ; irides wd (" pale 

 yellow," Goodfellow). Female with longer and narrower 

 beak, with more slender terminal 'hook ; the naked 

 orbital area sometimes (if not always) moich darker than 

 in the male. Hab., Upper -\mazons and Ecuador. 



Dr. Emil A. Goeldi. writing about a. visit to South 

 Guyana {The lUs. 1897, p. 162), says: "The,bird, how- 

 ever, which mosit interested me was the Pachyrms 

 hrachyurus, a 'short-tailed and corpulent green Parrot, 

 of which a flight of some twenty individuals perched 

 (Ocitober 30) on a siriuba. Unfortunately I got one 

 specimen only of this species, which is not found, as I 

 know >well, after nearly three years' residence, in the 

 vicinitv of Par,*!. " 



Mr. Walter Goodfellow {Tfie Ibi.f, 1902, p. 219) says • 

 " We only once cimie upon a large flock of these Parrots, 

 when they were congregating at sunset in the high trees 

 along the river banks for the ■night." 



These are the only field notes that I have come across. 

 The species is not mentioned in Rusis' "Handb'ook." 

 Two examples were purchased for the London Zoologi- 

 cal Gai-dens in 1894. 



The genus Pionns is diaraoterised by its red imdeir 

 taU-coverts and complete orbital ring. Tlie species 

 should be treated in captivity in the same manner as 

 the Amazons, to w'liich they are verj- closely related. 

 Up to the present time seven species appear to have 

 been imported as cage-birds. 



