1 884 



THE PARROT TRIBE 



All-Green 



Parraquet 



Australia, and the Papuan islands. This has been taken to indicate that these 

 birds constitute an originally southern group, although it is much more probable 



that they were pri- 

 marily developed in 

 the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere. 



Our 

 last ex- 

 ample 



of the subfamily is 

 the all-green or tirika 

 parraquet (Broto- 

 gerys tirica) , repre- 

 senting a genus with 

 several species, dis- 

 tinguished by the 

 long tail, the some- 

 what compressed 

 form of the beak, in 

 BI.UE-WINGED PARROTI,ET. which the nostrils 



open in a completely- 

 naked cere, and the absence of a tufted oil gland. The species figured on the 

 opposite page is the largest of the genus, measuring ten inches in total length, 

 whereas some of the others are less than seven. It takes its name from the 

 all-pervading green of the plumage, to which the only exceptions are the blue 

 primaries and primary coverts, a slight tinge of olive brown on the lesser upper 

 wing coverts, and of blue on the middle tail feathers. This species is an inhabit- 

 ant of Eastern Brazil; the. range of the genus extending from that country, Peru, 

 and Bolivia, to Central America. In Eastern Brazil the tirika is one of the com- 

 monest of the parrot tribe, associating in countless flocks, which may be seen flying 

 from grove to grove, or descending to ravage the rice and maize fields. Their cry 

 is a short, sharp, clear scream. In captivity these parraquets thrive well. 



BUJNT-TAILED GREEN PARROTS 

 Subfamily PIONIN^ 



The familiar Amazon parrots are among the best-known representatives of 

 a large subfamily, containing several American genera and also a single African 

 one. All these parrots are distinguished from the members of the preceding sub- 

 family by their broad and short or moderate tails, which are never of the acuminate 

 and pointed form characteristic of the conures, and have the tips of the feathers 

 rounded. In the whole of them the cere is entirely naked, and the predominant 



