190 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



breed. They are vei'y little birds, difficult to approach, 

 and i+ake a. good deal of hitting to bring them down." 



Dr. Ruiss speaks of this as a rarely imported I'an'ot ; 

 a pja.ir ■nhich he possessed died from excessive heat 

 during the month of June. AVhether Meyer's Parrot is 

 more freely imported into England than into Gennany 

 I do not know : but, sir.ce the London Zoological Society 



Meyer's Parrot. 



first acquired the species in 1855, a good many examples 

 have found their way to the Gardens ; it is rare in 

 private collections. 



Rueppell's Parrot {Pccocephalus rueppelli). 

 General colour smoky brown ; feathers of ramp and 

 upper tail-coverts with darker edges ; bend of wing 

 and front edge yellow ; sides of head greyieh, the ear- 

 coverts decidedly silvcirj^-gi'ej-ish ; under wing-coverts 

 and thiglis yellow, the latter more or les.s tinged with 

 orange; beak and feet dark Jiorn-colour ; ia-ides orange. 

 Female smaller, with the lower back, rump and upper 



tail-coverts bright blue; vent and under tail coverts 

 washed with paler duller blue; beak lei's powerful. 

 Hab. , " South-Western Africa from Benguela, perliaps 

 also from Gaboon, to Damaralaiid " {Stilvaelori). 



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

 p. 195, we read : Jlr. Anderson gives the following 

 note : — " This species is common in Damaraland, but is 

 chiefly found in the middle and southern parts of that 

 country ; it is always met with in small flocks of about 

 half a dozen individuals, and seems to prefer the larger 

 kind of trees. It is rather shy, and when quietly perched 

 amongst the branches is very difficult to perceive, until 

 its piesence is betrayed by the cries it utters as soon 

 as it conceives itself to be in danger ; these are at first 

 shull and isolated, but iiiciiease in strength and fre- 

 1 ueiKV till it leaves its perch, and are usually continael 

 duimg its flight, which is generally short, but very 

 1 ipid It is rareiy found far from waitea-, which it 

 usually frequents twice a day. 

 It feeds on seed and berries, some- 

 times also on the young shoots of 

 trees and plants." 



Russ does not mention thi* 

 species in his Handbook ; hut in 

 1882 four specimens from Western 

 Africa were purchased for thei 

 Zoological Society's collection in 

 Regent's Park ; two others were 

 subsequently received dead from 

 Mr. Jamrach (who probably senti 

 them for examination in order to 

 decide the sexual differences ; the 

 year following a third (living) 

 example was presented to the 

 (iarden reputed to be from East 

 Africa. 



This completes the Parrots of 

 the sub-family Pionince and btings 

 us to the nearly related forms of 

 the sub-family Psitladnce. 



SUB.FAMILY PSITTACIN;E. 

 Typical Parrots. 



The general colouring of these 



liiids is either grey or brown, often. 



with a certain amount of red ; 



they are characterised by the broad 



cere at the base of the upper 



mandible, narrower below the 



nostrils ; the latter rounded, not 



encircled by a swelling ; the orbital 



legion and often tlie lores occupied 



by an exteneive naked area ; beak 



without notch, the lower mandible 



longer than deep. The species 



inhabit the Ethiopian Region, Madagascar, the Comoro 



and Seychelles Islands, and one genus and species comes 



from New Guinea. 



In captivity the imported species of this suib-family, 

 when first imported, and if unaMe then to crack seed, 

 should be fed upon maize, boiled for two hours, and 

 banana; so soon, however, as they are old enough to 

 take hard food, a mixture of one part wheat, two dari, 

 two hemp, and two canaay (by measure.) should be 

 gradually substituted for the boU'ed maize ; mits should 

 be addedi on winter, and green peas in the pod in 

 summer; fruit al.so should (be given daily, especially 



