TYPICAL PARROTS. 



banana, grapes, ripe pear, or orange ; and, aa an 

 occasionaj treat, a piece of cracker or other plain diy 

 biscuit. Of course, pure water should bo gup]>lied to 

 these, as to all othea- PaaTots, but no other form of 

 driak. 



Gkey P.\nROT {Psilliicus crilli(icus). 



The adult bird is of a deep ash-grey, slightly paler 

 on the under parts ; the tail is crijuson, the beak is 

 black, the uppei- iuanduible with a powdery white cere; 

 the upper part of the face, wliich is naked, is alto of a 

 powdery whitish chara<ter ; the feet are darkish grey ; 

 the iris of the eye, which is silvei--grey in the young 

 1 ird, clianges to pale yellow as it bcooines adult. Female 

 more thick-srt, with a broader rounder (head ; the naked 

 patch on the side of the head rounded instead of 

 obtUisely pointed behind ; the posterior angle of the 

 lower jaw more acutely pointed, the beak .shorter and 

 more compi-essed just before the terminal hook ; as a 

 general rule the colouring is deeper, but individuals vary 

 in this respect. Hab.. Western Africa fi-om Seneganibia 

 to the Congo and Prince Island ; also acioes the 

 continent to the Victoria Nyanza. 



Some e.xaimples have a good many red feathsns 

 irregularly scattered over tlie body, and it has been 

 stated tliat they are suVspecifically distinct and occur 

 only in the Interior ; it has also been asserted that these 

 birds ai-e more talented as talkers, but this I gireat'.y 

 dombt.* 



Dr. Otto Fin-sch, inhismonograi>hof thePan-ots, says 

 that in its native country this .species is very a.bundant ; 

 it feeds on fruits and various seeds, but especially palm 

 nute. Its breeding season is in December, after the 

 rains ; it selects, for purposes of nidification, a deep hole 

 in a tree, in which it dejx)sits five white eggs. Within a 

 certain radius one may often find eome hundreds of 

 pairs breeding, but rareJy more than one pair in the 

 same tree.t The natives'are afraid to take the young- 

 birds from the nest, as they have a superstition that so 

 much heat is generated there as to burn one's finger (a 

 very natural superstition when one considers the 

 formidable beak of this bird) : they therefore wait 

 until the young have flown and then snare them, after- 

 wards usually selling them to strangers at the rate of 

 about a dollar apiece. Dr. Finsch attributes the ab- 

 sence of Kites on Prince's Island to the fact that the 

 Grey Parrot is there so abundant. He says that birds 

 of prey are frequently seized and destroyed by them 

 on the wing. On the other hand, J. G. Keulemans. the 

 well-known bird artist and traveller, says : " On 

 Prince's Island we find these birds in great abundance, 

 while on the neighbouring island of St. Thomas not a 

 Grey Parrot is to be seen, a fact to be accounted for 

 by the large numbers of the Kite (Milvus parasiticus!} 

 inhabiting the latter island." No doubt both views 

 ai'e correct ; both of these colonies (or nations, so to 

 speak) of birds are powerful, each has a wholesome 

 dread of the other, and keeps to its own dominions. 

 This Parrot is essentially " gregarious : it not only 

 nests in communities, but it is always to be seen in 

 flocks. In time of danger (says Keulemans) the old 

 birds defend their progeny vigorously, and should the 

 enemy prove too strong to be successfully resisted by 

 one pair, other Parrots come up to their assistance, 

 and, joining forces, either kill or put the aggiessor to 

 flight." 



Mr. Frank Finn, writing on "Birds Observed in 



- * This form ie ca-llej the "Kins' Parrot*' and is conunKxn at 

 Cfleeenge. in the interior of Loftuda. 



t On the other hand, Mr. KeiLlomans tiays : — "Often in otnt"» 

 tree two or more holes mav be seen occupied' by hatching pairs." 



Eastern Africa" {The Ibis, 1893, p. 229), says that 

 P. rrithiKjiis is a " common pet with Hindoos, Goanese, 

 and Euroiieans, being brought down from the interior." 



According to J. H. Gurney (The Ibis, 1899, p. 29), 

 Le Vaillant speaks of a Grey Parrot which began to 

 lose its memory at sixty, to moult irregularly at sixty- 

 five, and to bet-ome blind at ninety, and died at ninety- 

 three ; but he thinks it hardly sufficiently established to 

 be included in an authenticated list of the ages to which 

 birds live. It is nevertheless quite likely to be a fact. 



Oscar Xeumann (m the "Journal fiir Ornithologie," 

 1699, p. 33) says that he met with a small flock of 

 Psittactis erithdcvs in Kiva Kitoto, in Kavironda, on 

 the east shore of the Victoria Lake — the most easterly 

 point of its occurrence recorded — and found it abundant 

 among the banana gardens of Ussoga, north of the 

 lake. 



F. J. Jackson, describing birds obtained in British 

 East Africa (The Ibis, 1902, p. 612), speaks of examples 

 of this species obtained by him at Entebbe as having 

 the "iris dark grey." This would give them a very 



The Grey Paeeot. 



different appearance from the ordinarily imported 

 Western specimens. 



Writing on the birds of Fernando Po. Mr. Boyd 

 Alexander s,ays (The Ibis, 1903, p. 397) : "Constantly 

 observed passing high overhead in large flocks. It i« 

 a migrant to the island." 



Few birds are more freely imported, and probably 

 none are more widely popular, than the Grey Parrot. 

 Nevertheless, owing chiefly to the imnatural treatment 

 to which these birds were generally subjected when 

 first imported, I believe that, up to the end of the 

 last century, Mr. Abrahams' estimate that only 2 per 

 cent, of those imported lived to become household pets, 

 was literally true ; and even now, in consequence of 

 the prevalent ignorance of the requirements of Parrots 

 in the case of many dealers and more purchasers, the 

 mortality is still much higher than it need be. Since 

 1898 I have waged perpetual warfare against the hope- 

 lessly injudicious feeding to which this unhappy bird 

 is generally exposed; and, from letters which I have 

 received from time to time, both from thoughtful 

 dealers and private individuals, I know that attention 

 to my directions for the treatment of the Grey Parrot 

 has resulted in the salvation of many specimens which 

 would otherwise have been irremediably lost; but fo 

 long as purchasers continue listless respecting the com- 



