188 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



Jardine's Parrot (Pceocepliulus gulielmi). 



The prevailing colour of this bird is grass-green, the 

 forehead, bend and front margm of wing, and thighs 

 varying from yellowish-orange to red ; lores blackish ; 

 back and shoulders bromiieh-black, each feather with 

 a dark green border; rump yellowish-green; sides of 

 abdomen and lower tail-coverts with olive-yellowish 

 centres to the feathers ; beak greenish^black, the base, 

 cere, and naked space encircJlng the eye flesh coloui'ed ; 

 feet greyish-black ; iris pale brown. 



The female is rather smaller than the male, and has 

 a, lighter and less powerful beak. In the young the 

 forehead, bend and front margin of wing, and the thighs 

 are green, but the axillaries and under wing-coverts 

 are partly red. Hab. , " Western Africa from the Gold 

 Coast to the Congo." (Salvadori.) 



Respecting a form of this epecies occurring in 

 Cameroon, Mr. G. L. Bates .says {Tlie Ibi^. 1904, p. 91) : 

 "The green Parrots iPceocepIiahis aiihri/anii!:} were 

 shot in a tree, where they were feeding. These birds 

 have so little fear that they will return to the same tree 

 again and again, till all the flock is kUled. They are 

 .seen here only occasionally." In The Uii.^ for 1907. 

 p. 428, he says : " Heard in the Zima Country. The 

 species is known by its shriller scream." I have not 

 discovered any other field-notes relating to this species. 



It is not a particularly rare bird in the European 

 markets, but acclimatised specimens, and especially 

 talkers, fetch a tolerably high price. 



As regards its capacity for learning, individuals vary 

 greatly. Dr. Russ. from his experience of the species, 

 describes it as " very quiet, and exhibiting little 

 activity ; only when teiTified and anxious uttering a 

 shrill cry. A little gifted witb ejieech." In opposition 

 to this verdict it will be remembered that in Tin' 

 Feathered World for June 30. 1899. J. McMillan pub- 

 lished a very entertaining account of a specimen in hi* 

 possession which (without any systematic training) had 

 picked up numerous sentences, called the children by 

 their Clmstian names, laughed, cried, whistled, and 

 imitated the milkman's call. 



The first specimen of Jardine's Parrot exhibited in 

 the Regent's Park Gardens ^\■as deposited in 1862 ; 

 others have, from time to time, been on view there since 

 that date. 



Brown-headed Parrot (Pa-ore /jhalus finciea pUlu^). 



Green ; lower back, rump and ujiper tail-coverts, 

 brighter ; flights fcrown, edged «ith green on outer 

 webs, tail-feathers olive-bro\vn. tipped, and edged ou 

 outer webs, with green ; head and neck olivaceous 

 greyish-brown ; ear-coverts silvery-grey ; breast, abdo- 

 men, and under tail-coverts paler and brighter green 

 than upper back ; under wing-coverts yellow ; upper 

 majidible horn-colour, lower mandible white ; feet 

 black ; irides yellow. Female smaller. Hab.. " Zanzibar 

 and South-eastern Africa, from ilombas to Swaziland." 

 (Salvadori.) 



In Sharpe and Layard's " Birds of South Africa," p. 

 197, we read : — " This seems to be. as Dr. Kirk remarks, 

 the most common of the Parrot tribe in Eastern Tropical 

 Africa, and it has been found at various places from 

 Uzaramo southwards to the Zambesi region ; here Dr. 

 Kirk says it is called " Goe," and he states that it is 

 " usually found in small flocks or in pairs ; feeds on 

 fiTiits, such as figs, etc., but also eats native millet and 

 maize. Its clear scream may be heard at a great dis- 

 tance." 



Mr. Frank Finn, writing on East African birds [The 

 Ibis, 1893, p. 229), says: "I met with this bird on a 

 few occasions in captivity at Zanzibar and Mombasa, 



and wild some miles away from the latter town on the 

 mainland. It flies with a quicker stroke of the wings 

 than one would expect from their length." 



Capt. Shelley, writing on birds from British Central 

 Africa (T/ie Ibi-^, 1901, p. 176), says the native name is 

 Si/wi. Later in the same volume (p. 593) he speUs the 

 name Xi/ire. 



Stark 'and Sclater ("Birds of South Africa," Vol. III., 

 pp. 227, 228) say:— -The Woodwards found these 

 I'arrots pretty common on the thorn flats of Zululand : 

 ■■ They are generally seen in pairs, and fly very rapidly, 

 uttering shrill screams. They are fond of wild figs, the 

 fruit of a huge species of banyan tree, which grows 

 along the banks of many of the larger rivers, and we 

 have seen them feeding on green mealies in the KaflSr 

 mealie gardens. These Parrots make round holes in the 

 dead trees, where they lay their eggs. We found one ; 

 it was pure white, and nearly round." 



Mr. C. F. M. Swvnnerton, writing on the birds of 

 Gazaland, says {The Ibl.-', 1907, pp. 297, 298);— "A 

 single specimen of this Pan-ot was brought to me in 

 April. 1895, by a native, who had caught it with bird- 

 lime in the .Jihu ; it lived in my aviaiy tiU November, 

 when it die<l. Though wild enough for a time, it was 

 leuiarkably tame for a fortnight or so before its death, 

 (limbing down daily to my hand and picking the grains 

 from a mealie-cob ; it was noticeably sick only for a day 

 before its death. This sudden tameness before death 

 appears not to be uncommon, ilr. Marshall informing 

 me that he has seen several instances of it in his a\nary 

 at Salisburv." 



In The Ibis for 1908, the same writer says (p. 418) : — 

 " Two of these Parrots flew over my homestead near 

 Chirinda on August 29. It is the conunon species of the 

 low veld, and I came across it constantly in travelling 

 from Inyajena to Chibabava and on to Chironda, as 

 well as in the Madanda forests during December and 

 Januai-y. It might usually be heard all day in the 

 dense foliage of the large Trichilias and other trees in 

 jiarties of as many as six or seven together. Under 

 these circumstances a continuous conversation of com- 

 paratively pleasant conversational notes is kept up, the 

 shriek utteretl in flying being somewhat harsher, though 

 less piercing, than that of our other two species. It is 

 far tamer than either of these, and will usually jiermit 

 anyone to pass under the tree without moving, though 

 even then its green coloration renders it very difficult 

 to detect amongst the dense foliage." 



Russ savs this is rare, and received singly in the 

 market. The first two specimens exhibited in the 

 Tx>ndon Zoological Gardens were presented in 1870, and 

 I do not know of others having arrived there since that 

 date. 



Yellow-fronted Parrot [Paocephalus fiavifrons). 



Green, with brighter edges to the feathers ; lower 

 back, rump, and upper tail-coverts paler and brighter, 

 yellower at base of feathers; flights brown, greenish 

 and edged with green on outer webs; tail olive-brow i. 

 with a golden sheen ; forehead, top of head, lores, 

 orbital region, and upper part of cheeks yellow ; lower 

 breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts brighter green 

 than upper back ; thighs more or less yellow ; tail below 

 golden olive-brown ; beak pale dusky horn-colour, with 

 more or less whitish under mandible ; feet ashy or 

 blackish ; irides red or reddish. Female not differen- 

 tiated. Hab., North-east Africa from Shoa to 

 Abvssinia. 



Heuglin says (" Ornithologie Nord-Ost Africa's," 1, 

 2, p. 742) : — " I found this species not rare in January 

 in Ataba Valley in the Abyssinian province Telemet, at 



