183 



Red-vented Parrot {I'iuiiiix mt-n»//««s). 



tji'eeii ; upper ^riiig-coN-erts with a goWen biownish- 

 olive sheen ; outer web of first primary cJged with 

 gi'eeuish^blue ; lateral tail-feathers with the outer webs 

 iblue towards the tips or wholly blue ; head and neck 

 'blue ; a black patch on the ear-coverts ; a more or less 

 concealed rosy red patch on the throat ; feather's of 

 upper breast more or lees tinged with olivaceous-brown 

 and edged with blue ; under tail-coverts rose-red tipped 

 ■with green more or less washcid with blue ; greater 

 under wing-coverts and inner webs of fligjhts below 

 grass-green ; beak blackish, with a red patch at 'base 

 of upper mandible ; cere greyish ; feet 'grey ; irides 

 brown. Female with a smaller and narrower beak, with 

 longer terminal hook. (Hab., "From Costa llica to 

 Ckjlombiii.. Trinidad. Guiana, Amazon Valley, Ecuador, 

 Peru," and perhaps Bolivia, (of. Salvador! Cat.) 



T. K. 'Salmon C Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society." 1879. p. 558) says that this bird " builds 'n 

 the holes of decayed palm trees, and lays four white 

 eggs." 



Burmeister ("Syetematische Uebersicht," Vol. II.. p. 

 190) states that this " bird is the commonest si>ecies 

 ;uuong the short-tailed Parrots of medium size in th« 

 forest-region of the <x»ast.s, and is everywhere called 

 INIaitacca." 



Sohomburgh (Reise III., p. 723) met with it equally 

 abundantly in Guiana, where it especially sought for 

 the ripe guava-fruits. 



Mr. Walter Goodfellow. writing on the birds of 

 Colombia and Ecuador [The Ibis, 1902. ip. 219). says 

 that this 'Species is " common oji the Napo, but most 

 plentiful on the lower parts." 



The Hon. and Rev. Canon Button says of this Parrot 

 ((ii'eene's " PaiTOts in Captivity," Vol. III., p. 109) : — 

 " iline took a strong dislike to one man. but the rest 

 of the world could do 'w-liat they iplease'd with it. It 

 ■was very quiet, never screamed, but never learnt any- 

 thing ; it was a stupid bird." 



lluss says: — "Known in the trade, but not com- 

 monly : easUy tameaible, that is if taken out of the nest 

 ■when young ; learns to speak single words. When adult 

 a hateful screamer, price 30-50 marks for a pair ; tame 

 and talking. 60-70 marks for a specimen." 



The first two specimens exhibited at tlie London 

 Zoological Society's 'Gardens were purcha.sed in 1868, 

 and a fair num'ber has since been acquired. 



Sordid Parrot iPionus ^ordidus}. 



Above olive-gi^een ; first primary edged with blue m 

 outer web ; lateral tail-feathers with blue outer webs, 

 red towards base of inner webs ; feathers of head with 

 dark blue edges, those of cheeks tipped with blue ; 

 ohin and a 'band across the throat blue ; breast and 

 abdomen dull olivaceous ; under tail-coverts red ; 

 greater under wing-coverts and inner webs of flights 

 below malachite-green ; tail 'below green, with the 

 lateral feathers red at ha.se; beak red, the base of 

 culmen dusky and a yellowish tinge at base of upper 

 mandible, near the tomium ; feet dusky. Female pro- 

 (bably smaller, with a rather broader ibeak. Hab., 

 Venezuela. 



I have found no notes on the wild life of this 'bird. 

 Russ says of it — " Fairly quiet, is easily tamed, but 

 ■when excited screams a good deal and by no means 

 _ agreeably." 



Two specimens v,'ere purchased by the London 

 Zoological Societv in 1873 and one in 1883. 



CORAL-IIILI.ED PaRKOT [I'inillix Cundl illllf). 



Dull green ; feathers of interscapular region with 

 dusky bluish edges and a greyish subterminal shade j 

 lateral tail-feathers with blue outer .webs, the inner 

 webs red toward'S the base; feathers of head with 

 bluish edges ; chin, and a band across the upper breast, 

 blue ; under tail-coverts red, with dark s.hafts ; greater 

 under wing-coverts and inner webs of flights below 

 malachite-g'reen ; beak coral-red ; feet grey ; irides 

 brown. Female not differentiated. Hab., Ecuador and 

 Colombia, 



. Walter Goodfellow [The Ibis, 1902, p. 219) says: — 

 " A male from Guanacillo, Western Ecuador. Beak 

 coral-red, white at the tip." 



I have found no notes on the wild life in works in my 

 library. Russ says : — " So far as I know, on one occa- 

 sion, for the first time, offered ifor sale 'by Miss 

 Hagenbeck." 



Maximilian's Parrot {Pionus rnaximiliani}. 



Green ; feathers of hind, neck with whitish shaft- 

 streaks ; feathers of back, rump, and wing-coverts with 

 dusky edges with olivaceous bro-wn sheen ; outer web 

 of first primary edged with greenish-blue : lateral tail- 

 feathers with the outer webs mostly blue and the 

 inner webs more or less red ; feathers of the head with 

 dark grey edges ; forehead and lores 'nearly black ; 

 feathers of cheeks with bluish-grey edges ; chin and a 

 band across lower throat dull purplisli-blue ; feathers 

 of breast and abdomen with dusky edges ; under tail- 

 coverts red, sometimes washed with purple, the longest 

 with narrow yellowish-green edges ; greater under 

 wing-coverts and inner webs of flights below grass- 

 green ; tail below with the base of the inner webs of 

 the lateral feathers more or less red ; beak horn- 

 yellowish, dusky at ba.?e of upper mandible ; feet dusky. 

 Female with smaller and slightly stouter beak. Hab., 

 South-eastern Brazil and Paraguay. 



Mr. E. W. White, writing on the " Birds of the 

 Argentine Republic" ("Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society," 1882, p. 622), says of this Parrot :—" Only 

 one s}>ecimen seen, perching on one of the topmost 

 branches of a high tree in the dense forest on the banks 

 of the Vermejo." 



That is the only field-note I have come across, and 

 it tells us practically nothing respecting the -wild life 

 of the species."* 



Russ says: — "Rare in the market. According to 

 von Schlechtendal, at first distrustful, cry piercing, oon 

 became tame." 



First purchased by the Zoological Society in 1862; 

 others have been acquired more recently. 



WHITE-HE.4DED Parrot [Pioiius Senilis) 

 Olive-green ; lesser and median upper wing-coverts 

 olive-brown with a golden sheen ; front edge of wing 

 white ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and primaries 

 deep blue, edged with green on outer webs ; central 

 tail-feathers blue towards tip.s, lateral feathers blue, 

 red at base of inner webs ; the inner ones green towards 

 base of outer webs ; crown white ; rest of head green, 

 with blue edges to the feathers ; a white patch on 

 chin and middle of throat ; breast olive-brown, with 

 purplish-blue edges to the feathers, becoming greener 

 towards the abdomen ; under tail-coverts red, bluish 

 towards tips and with green shafts, the longer ones 

 with yellowish-green edges; under wing-coverts gi-een 

 washed with blue towards tips, the greater ones and 



• A fleM^note by Sohomburg-li is bebevod' Bot to refer to this 

 6peci«s. tSee " Foreign Bird-KeepiU'g," Part II., p. 53). 



