Practical Bird Keeping. — IV. Parrakeets.



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The Patagonian Conure is a large bird of a dull greenish

colour relieved by yellow and blue. The Black-headed and Red¬

headed Conures (C. nenday and C. rubrolarvatus ) are bright

green birds with characteristic markings on the head. The

Cactus and Brown-throated (C. cactorum and C. aeruginosas)

are smaller, tame and confiding little birds, which make charming

cage pets ; while several small and pretty species are contained

in the genus Pyrrhura , the best known being the White-eared

Conure ( P. leucotis).


To the same sub-family belong the Grey-breasted or

Quaker Parrakeet, a parrot distinguished from all others by

its habit of constructing a large domed nest of twigs ; the

Lineolated Parrakeet ( Bolborhynclms Ihicolatus), the Pas¬

serine Parrakeet ( Psittacula passerina), and the Tovi and

other species of the genus Brotogerys.


A large number of species are contained in the genus

Palceornis, which is spread over a part of Africa, India, Burma,

the Malay Peninsula and adjacent islands. The best known

species are the Indian Ring-necked Parrakeet (P. iorquatus'),

the Alexandrine ( P. eupatrid), of which there are several races,

and the Banded Parrakeet ( P. fasciata). The first of these

has been bred in captivity on several occasions, but, as a rule,

these Parrakeets are kept merely as cage-birds, in which state

they sometimes make quite good talkers.


Confined entirely to the African Continent and Madagascar

is the small group of true Lovebirds ( Agapornis ), all of which

have short rounded tails. The chief peculiarity of the group is

that they make their nest by lining the hollow of a tree-trunk or

limb with some material such as dry grass or the soft green bark

of trees. The three well-known species are the Red-faced (A.

pullaria ) from West Africa, the Rosy-FACED ( A. roseicollis ) of

South Africa, and the Grey-headed ( A. cana ) from Madagascar;

while the recently-discovered Black-cheeked Lovebird (A .

nigrigenis ) from Rhodesia, is, at the moment, perhaps the com¬

monest kind in captivity, being an extremely free - breeding

species.


There still remains to be mentioned the large family of

honey-eating Parrakeets which inhabit Australasia and are



