BLUNT-TAILED PARROTS 1887 



are green, the head is brown, with hoary streaks on the sides; the elongated feathers 

 of the nape, together with those on the abdomen and breast are dark red, with blue 

 edges, and the bastard wing, primaries, and primary coverts are black. The tail 

 feathers are green, tinged with blue near the tips, and below both the tail and wings 

 are black. The color of the bill is dusky horn, the iris is brown, and the feet are 

 black. In length this bird measures about fourteen inches. In repose, the elon- 

 gated feathers of the nape are depressed, and it is only when the bird is excited or 

 angry that the ruff is raised in the manner depicted in our illustration. But little is 

 known of this parrot in its native state, beyond the fact that it is an inhabitant of 

 dense forests, and is far less common than most other species. It is frequently 

 found on the sawari palms, and its cry is described as of piercing shrillness. The 

 usual number of eggs laid is stated to be four. Although but rarely exported to 

 Europe, the hawk-billed parrot, according to Mr. W. T. Greene, is an admirable 

 bird as a pet, being very hardy, agile and graceful in its movements, readily tamed, 

 and almost as good a talker as the gray parrot. 



Passing by the other American representatives of the present sub- 

 ^ family, brief mention must be made of the African genus Pceocephalns \ 

 which contains several medium-sized parrots, with rather short tails, 

 and the bill very short and deep, especially as regards its lower mandible, in which 

 the depth exceeds the length. These parrots are found throughout Africa south of 

 the Sahara, and agree with their American cousins in the general green hue of their 

 plumage; well-known examples being L,evaillant's parrot (P. robustus) of South 

 Africa; Jardine's parrot (P. guliemi} from the west coast, and the brown-headed 

 parrot (P. fuscicapillus) from Zanzibar. In the second of these, while the general 

 hue is green, the feathers of the back are black, edged with green; the tail feathers 

 and primaries black, and the other wing feathers like those of the back. These 

 colors are relieved by red on the front of the head, the bend of the wings, and legs. 

 The whole length of the bird is about eleven inches. All are readily tamed, and 

 may be often trained to talk fairly well. 



Subfamily PSITTACINJR 



This second group of short-tailed parrots, which are mainly confined 

 Gray and to Africa and Madagascar, although represented by one genus in New 

 Guinea, are readily distinguished from the members of the preceding 

 Tailed subfamily by their prevalent color being either gray or black, with or 

 Parrots without an admixture of red. The sides of the head are more or less 

 naked, the bill is never red, and in the skull the bony ring round the 

 eye is always incomplete. The cere is broad, but narrows toward the nostrils, which 

 it does not inclose in a swelling; while the bill is without a notch, and has its lower 

 mandible longer than deep. The tail may be either square or rounded, and is some- 

 times rather more and at others rather less than half the length of the wing. 



Such a universal favorite as the common gray parrot (Psittacus erithacus) the 

 type of the whole order scarcely requires description, as its appearance is familiar 



