THE



Hvtcultural flfcagastne,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


A V! CU LTURAL SOCIETY.



VOL. VIII.— NO. 8. All rights reserved. JUNE, 1902.



THE AUGUST AMAZON.


(Chrysotis augustaj.


By the Hon. and Rev. Canon Dutton.



This Parrot is the largest of the Amazons. The illustra¬

tion, taken from Mr. Plerbert Goodcliild’s admirable water

colour, renders a description of the colours of the bird

unnecessary. But as it conveys no impression of its relative

size I may as well note the dimensions given in the British

Museum Catalogue: “Total length, 19 inches, wing n, tail 7,

bill 17, tarsus 075.”


I should have said Guilding’s Amazon was as large, but the

Catalogue gives its length as 17 inches.



These two birds are very much larger than any other

Amazon. Though Versicolor with 167 inches comes near

Guilding’s in size.



My bird fell when its companion was shot, and was picked

up quite uninjured. As the companion proved on dissection to be

a male, the presumption is that mine was a female. Some people

think female Parrots are much gentler than male birds. If so,

my bird may help to establish the theory. For though it was

caught adult, it was very tame, and quite willing to be played

with, and soon learned to say several words. It may have been

young when it was obtained, for Mr. Goodchild tells me it has

grown much darker since he painted it, that the skins in the

Natural History Museum are darker, and that one deposited at

the Gardens, but which died soon after its arrival, was darker.

Certainly Mr. Goodehild’s drawing was a most faithful repre¬

sentation of the bird when I had it.



It is impossible to draw conclusions from one bird, and I

am afraid more are not likely to be soon procured. They are

entirely confined to Dominica, and are not common there. But

I believe a new road was cut in the forests, which revealed that



