368 CUCULIFORMES CHAP. 
primary-coverts, outer webs of quills and the tail being blue. The 
dozen species haunt grassy hills, feed wpon seeds, berries, insects 
and their larvae, run easily, take short flights, rise with out- 
spread tail, and lay from four to seven eggs in holes in trees 
without a nest. J. eximius is the Roselle Parakeet of dealers. 
Loriculus vernalis is green, tinged with yellowish below and 
with orange on the back; the rump is red; the throat, the inner 
webs of the wing-quills, and the under surface of the tail are 
bluish. The female has little blue on the throat. The flight is 
rapid, but the birds are not shy; they are found in pairs or 
small flocks, and are said to suck honey from the flowers. They 
breed as does the last-mentioned species. 
The Ethiopian genus Agapornis shares with the Neotropical 
Psittacula the appellation Love-bird, due to their habit of 
sitting huddled together, their mutual caresses, and their intense 
devotion to each other. If one dies, its mate not uncommonly 
pines away. A. roseicollis of South Africa is green above and 
yellower below, the forehead being red, the cheeks and throat 
rose-coloured, the rump and median rectrices blue; the lateral 
tail feathers exhibit blue tips, red bases, and a black band. It 
is found in flocks near water, flying quickly, uttering shrill, rapid 
notes, feeding on berries and the like, and commonly breeding in 
Weaver-birds’ nests. A. cana of Madagascar, introduced into the 
neighbouring islands, has the head, neck, and breast grey; A. 
taranta, of North-East Africa, the forehead red, the rump and 
tail green; A. pullaria, of West Equatorial Africa, the face orange- 
red. The sexes differ only in these three species, wherein the under 
wing-coverts are black in the male, but green in the female, which 
lacks the grey or red, and in the third case has the face yellowish. 
Two dozen members of Palaecornis range from Senegambia to 
Abyssinia, the Mascarene Islands, India, Ceylon, the Burmese 
Sountries, South China, and the Great Sunda Islands. P. ewpatria, 
the Rose-banded Parakeet or Alexandrine, and P. torquata, the Rose- 
ringed Parakeet, are similar species from the Indian Region ; they 
are green, with rose-coloured nuchal collar, black neck-stripes, bluish 
median and yellow and green lateral rectrices, all tipped with yellow, 
and in the former a red wing-patch. The female shews no pink or 
black. These birds frequent both hills and plains, being often found 
in societies ; they have a loud musical note, feed on fruits and grain, 
and lay some four eggs on the chips in a hole cut out by themselves. 
