TYPICAL PARROTS. 



187 



White-bellied Caique {Caica leucoijaster). 



Above green ; wings as in the preceding species ; 

 crown, hind-neck, and upper ear-coverts orange-reddish ; 

 lores, sides of head, and throat yellow ; breast and 

 abdomen whitish-cream colour ; axillaries orange-red- 

 dish ; flanks and thighs green ; under tail-coverts 

 vellow ; tail below dull-golden : beak white ; feet pale 

 brown: naked orbital skin reddish flesh-colour; irides 

 reddish-brown. Female probably differs as in the 

 preceding species. Hab., Lower Amazons. 



I have come across no field-notes relating to this 

 species. Tlie Lonilon Zoological Society purchased a 

 specimen in 1880, and a second in 1883. Russ says it 

 exists only in the London and Amsterdam Gardens. 



Yellow-thighed Caique (Caica xanlhomtra.) 

 Differs from tlie preceding species in having the 



flanks and tliighs lemon-yeUow instead of green. Hab., 



Upper AniiizoMs. 



I have discovered no notes on the wild life of this 



Parrot. Two specimens were purchased for the 



London Zoological Gardens in 1877. 



As in my little work " How to Sex Cage-Birds," p. 

 125, I shall commence the next chapter with tlie 

 African forms of the present sub-family, followed by 

 the Psittacina. The species of Africa have been more 

 studied in their wild state than those of Central and 

 Southern America, and consequently the account of the 

 species is likely to occupy more space than those con- 

 sidered in the present chapter. 



CHAl'TBR XII. 



AFRICAN PIONIN/E & PSITTACIN^. 

 Typical Parrots. 



The species of I'li^uaphahix to which all the African 

 Pioninct belong are characterised by having the second 

 and third primaries the longest, and the first equal to 

 the fourth. In captivity they may ibe treated in the 

 same manner as the Grey Parrot and its allies. 



Levaillant's Parkot (Pceoccphalus rohustus). 



Above, interscapular region, scapulars, and wing- 

 coverts black, each feather marked with green on the 

 edge ; bend of wing and front edge vermilion ; lower 

 back, and rump, bright grass-green ; fliglits and tail- 

 feathers dark brown ; head ajid neck olive witli brown 

 centres to the feathers ; lower part of cheeks and chin 

 browner ; breast,* abdomen, and under tail-coverts 

 bright grass-green; thighs vermilion; beak wliitish 

 horn-colour, or greyish-white ; feet bluish-grey ; irides 

 dark brown. Female with a slightly broader and much 

 shorter Ijeak. Hab., South Africa to Zambesi on the 

 east and Angola on the west. 



In Sliarpe and Layard's " Birds of South Africa," 

 p. 194, we read : " Le Vaillant states that they breed 

 in hollow trees, and lay four white eggs, about the size 

 of those of pigeons'. According to Dr. Kirk the food 

 con.<ists of wild fruit and the kernels of nuts." 



In Stark and Sclater's " Birds of South Africa," 

 Vol. III., p. 225, we get a much fuller account, as 

 follows : — " Levaillant, whose name it bears, first accu- 



~^ • Rug-g sa.y3 the breast is bluish'-grey ; possibly h& may have 

 deecrtbed from an abraded £)p6cime&. 



rately described this Parrot ; he gives a long account 

 of it as observed by him'in the eastern portion of Cape 

 Colony, stating that its habits are extremely regular.* 



"■ In tlie eai'ly morning they are to be found in con- 

 siderable flocks on certain dead bare trees sunning 

 themselves and drying their damp plumage. From 

 about ten to eleven in the morning they disperse to 

 feed, chiefly on the nuts and seeds of the Geelhout 

 tPddocarpus), and the Wilde Kersen (PteroceJastrus ?). 

 During the heat of the day they rest in the recesses 

 of the forest. In the afternoon they again feed, and 

 later on resort in large companies to special watering- 

 places to bathe and drink ; an evening toilette is per- 

 formed on the bare dead trees, and finally they disperse 

 to roost at night. Thej- nest in holes in trees, and lay 

 four round white eggs about at large as those of a 

 domestic pigeon, and both male and female assist in the 

 incubation." 



'■ The best modem accoimt of these birds is that of 

 the Woodwards, who stale as follows : ' These Parrots, 

 like the rest of their tribe, are gi-egarious, and congre- 

 gate in large numbers in the upper districts of Natal, 

 .seldom visiting the coast. They frequent the liighest 

 trees, sitting quietly during the day, but as evening 

 draws on they fly out in search of food, making the 

 woods resound with their shrill cries. Owing to their 

 wild nature they are rather difficult to approach, and 

 the only specimens Tve obtained were on the Upper 

 Umzimkulu.' " 



Mr. G. C. iShoi-tridge says (The. Ibis, 1904. pp. 197 

 and 198) : " This is a plentiful bird. It flies high and 

 rather swiftly when travelling, but is easily distin- 

 guished from other biixls by its quickly flapping wings 

 ;ind continuous screaming." 



This bird was first exhibited in the Regent's Park 

 Ciardens in 1853, and several others have been received 

 since that date. Russ says it is very rare in the 

 market : a tame male, talking and whistling, was 

 offered for .=ale by Dieckmann, of Altona, in 18^, and 

 later a pair, the female of which laid three eggs. 



Brown-necked P.\krot (Pceocephalus fuscicoUis). 



Above, mterscapular region, scapulars, and 

 wing-coverts gi'eenish-:brown, greener at edges of 

 the feathers; lower back, rump, and upper tail- 

 coverts bright grass-green; bend and front edge 

 of wing vermilion ; flights and tail dark brown ; 

 head and neck silvery-grey, with brown centres 

 to the feathers ; lower part of cheeks and chin .browner ; 

 forehead and sometimes top of head, rose-red ; lores 

 blackish ; upper hreast greenish-grey ; lower breast, 

 abdomen, and under tail-coverts bright grass-green ; 

 thighs vermilion ; beak whitish ; feet lead-colour ; irides 

 maroon. Female probably with shorter beak and a 

 shorter terminal hook. Young without red on bend 

 and front of wing ; thighs mixed gi-een and red, Hab., 

 " Western South Africa, from Gaboon to Angola, 

 Damaraland, and across Africa to the Zambesi region." 

 (Salvadori.) 



In Stark and Sclater's "Birds of South Africa," we 

 read : " Mr. Andersson states that this Panxit is very 

 wild and difficult to approach, and that it is only in the 

 dry season in early morning and late evening, when 

 they come down to the water, that they can be 

 procured." 



Russ says that this bird is very rare. Two speci- 

 mens were" purchased for the London Zoological Gardens 

 in 1869. 



* A etati>in«nt confirmed by 0. F. 31. Swynuertoii (.The Ibii 

 1907, pp. 296, -29-). 



