THE TYPICAL PARROTS. 159 
experiment in India in order to propagate the beautiful 
yellow variety. If specimens of this could not be got, 
careful breeding from heavily-splashed birds, such as 
can often be had in Calcutta cheaply, might very possibly 
produce it before long. 
Some specimens of this Parakeet talk very well indeed ; 
the only talking individual I have ever seen myself was a 
hen, so it would appear that sex does not matter much. 
It is almost the oldest foreign cage-bird known in Europe, 
as it was kept by the ancient Romans ; the parrot whose 
funeral ode was written by Ovid was evidently a bird of 
this species, since the poet describes it as green with a 
red bill. A great many are sent to England yearly, and 
sold very cheaply. 
A very similar species to the Ring-necked Parakeet is 
the bird commonly known to dealers as the Rock Parrot, 
and in books as the Alexandrine Parakeet (Paleornis 
nepalensis). This, however, is a much larger bird than 
the ordinary Ring-neck, and has, in both sexes and at all 
ages, a large dark red patch on the wing, which will dis- 
tinguish it at once. It varies a good deal according to 
the district it inhabits, but the different varieties can 
hardly be ranked as species, though this is commonly 
done. Classing all these large Ring-necked Parakeets 
together, the Alexandrine may be said to be found almost 
all over India, Ceylon and Burma, and also extends to 
the Andamans, where it is very large and bright coloured. 
The only yellow specimen of this bird I have ever seen 
came from these islands, but it was not a very pure 
yellow. The Alexandrine Parakeet is known to the 
