212 Rev. J. Sibree^ Jr., on the • 



II. — The Woodpecker-like Birds. 



The second Order of Birds, according to ]Mr. R. Bowdler 

 Sharpens arrangement, comprises those termed Picarise 

 (Table II. pp. 214-216), which in some points resemble the 

 Woodpeckers [Picus) in their structure. This division is 

 again divided into two suborders of [a) Climbers and [b) 

 Wide-gapers. In the first of these, of the seven families of 

 which it is composed, only two have representatives in Mada- 

 gascar, viz., the Parrots and the Cuckoos. Of the remaining 

 families, the Honey-guides, Plantain-eaters, Woodpeckers, 

 Toucans, and Barbets, none are found in the island. 



I. The Climbers. — Two species of Parrot and one Parra- 

 keet are among the denizens of the Malagasy woods and 

 plantations in almost every part of the country. 



1. These Parrots, the one dark grey in colour, and the 

 other slaty black, are both of sober plumage, with none of 

 those brilliant tints which mark many species of Parrot in 

 other parts of the tropics. But they are both intelligent 

 birds, and, like their congeners, can be easily taught to speak 

 a few words and to whistle a tune ; they are therefore fre- 

 quently kept as pets by the Malagasy. The sooty species 

 (Coracopsis obscura) is found also (introduced) in Reunion, 

 but the black one (C. nigra) is peculiar to Madagascar. Mr. 

 Cowan speaks of the latter species as having been seen by 

 him in large flocks at Ihosy and Isalo, in the Bara country 

 (south- central region). 



The Sooty Parrot, except in the breeding-season, is found 

 in small companies of from six to eight individuals. Its food 

 is rice, seeds, roots, and wild fruit. A Malagasy proverb, 

 whose " moral ^^ is to reprove a too easy-going, changeable 

 disposition, speaks of " a male Parrot seeking fruit in the 

 forest : he finds a luscious morsel here, but in an instant he 

 is ofi' to get another there." This bird flies high, but if one 

 of them is shot or wounded, its companions will come with 

 sharp cries of defiance at the hunter, as if to save their 

 comrade. This Parrot, M. Grandidier says, is fady, or 

 sacred, to one of the royal families of the Vezo Sakalava, and 

 he gives the following story as accounting for the origin of 

 the veneration in which thev hold it : — 



