TYPICAL PARROTS. 



187 



WHITE-BELLIED CAIQUE (Caica leucogaster). 



Above green ; wings as in the preceding species ; 

 crown, hind-neck, and upper ear-coverts orange-reddish ; 

 lores, sides of head, and throat yellow ; breast and 

 abdomen whitish- cream colour ; axillaries orange-red- 

 dish; flanks and thighs green; under tail-coverts 

 yellow ; tail below dull-golden ; beak white ; feet pale 

 brown ; naked orbital skin reddish flesh-colour ; irides 

 reddish-brown. Female probably differs as in the 

 preceding species. Hab., Lower Amazons. 



I have come across no field-notes relating to this 

 species. The London Zoological Society purchased a 

 specimen in 1880, and a second in 1883. Russ says it 

 exists only in the London and Amsterdam Gardens. 



YELLOW-THIGHED CAIQUE (Caica xanthomera.) 



Differs from the preceding species in having the 

 flanks and thighs lemon-yellow instead of green. Hab., 

 Upper Amazons. 



I have discovered no notes on the wild life of this 

 Parrot. Two specimens were purchased for the 

 London Zoological Gardens in 1877. 



As in my little work "How to Sex Cage-Birds," p. 

 125, I shall commence the next chapter with the 

 African forms of the present sub-family, followed by 

 the Psittacince. The species of Africa have been more 

 studied in their wild state than those of Central and 

 Southern America, and consequently the account of the 

 species is likely to occupy more space than those con- 

 sidered in the present chapter. 



CHAPTER XII. 



AFRICAN PIONIN/E & PS1TTACIN/E. 

 Typical Parrots. 



The species of Pceocephalus to which all the African 

 Pionince belong are characterised by having the second 

 and. third primaries the longest, and the first equal to 

 the fourth. In captivity they may foe treated in the 

 same manner as the Grey Parrot and its allies. 



LEVAILLANT'S PARROT (Pceocephalus robustus}. 



Above, interscapular region, scapulars, and wing- 

 coverts black, each, feather marked with green on the 

 edge ; bend of wing and front edge vermilion ; lower 

 back and rump, bright grass -green ; flights and tail- 

 feathers dark brown; head and neck olive with brown 

 centres to the feathers ; lower part of cheeks and chin 

 browner ; breast,* abdomen, and under tail-coverts 

 bright grass-green ; thighs vermilion ; beak whitish 

 horn-colour, or greyish-white ; feet bluish-grey ; irides 

 dark brown. Female with a slightly broader and much 

 shorter beak. Ha'b., South Africa to Zambesi on the 

 east and Angola on the west. 



In Sharpe and Layard's " Birds of South Africa," 

 p. 194, we read : " Le Vaillant states that they breed 

 in hollow trees, and lay four white eggs, about the size 

 of those of pigeons'. "According to Dr. Kirk the food 

 consists of wild fruit and the kernels of nuts." 



In Stark and Sclater's " Birds of South Africa," 

 Vol. III., p. 225, we get a much fuller account, as 

 follows : " Levaillant, whose name it bears, first accu- 



* Rues sa.ys th.e breast is bluish-grey ; possibly lie may -have 

 described from an abraded specimen. 



rately described this Parrot ; he gives a long account 

 of it'as observed by him in the eastern .portion of Cape 

 Colony, stating that its habits are extremely regular.* 



" In the early morning they are to 'be found in con- 

 siderable flocks on certain dead bare trees sunning 

 themselves and drying their damp plumage. From 

 about ten to eleven in the morning they disperse to 

 feed, chiefly on the nuts and seeds of the ; Geelhout 

 (Podocarpus), and the Wilde Kersen (Pterocelastrus ?). 

 During the heat of the day- they rest in the recesses 

 of the forest. In the afternoon they again feed, and 

 later on resort in large companies to special watering- 

 places to bathe and drink ; an evening toilette is per- 

 formed on the 'bare dead trees, and finally they disperse 

 to roost at night. They nest in holes in tree's, and lay 

 four round white eggs aibout at large as those of a 

 domestic pigeon, and both male and female assist in the 

 incubation." 



" The best modern account of these birds is that of 

 the Woodwards, who state as follows : ' These Parrots, 

 like the rest of their tribe, are gregarious, and congre- 

 gate in large numbers in the upper districts of Natal, 

 seldom visiting the coast. They frequent the Highest 

 trees, sitting quietly during the day, but as evening 

 draws on they fly out in search of food, making the 

 woods resound with their shrill cries. Owing to their 

 wild nature they are rather difficult to approach, and 

 the only specimens we obtained were on the Upper 

 Umzimkulu.' ' 



Mr. G. C. iShortridge says (The Ibis, 1904, pp. 197 

 and 198) : " This is a plentiful bird. It flies high and 

 rather swiftly when travelling, but is easily distin- 

 guished from other birds 'by its quickly flapping wings 

 and continuous screaming." 



This bird was first exhibited in the Regent's Park 

 Gardens in 1853, and iseveral others have foeen received 

 since that date. Russ says it is very rare in the 

 market ; a tame male, talking and whistling, was 

 offered for pale by Dieckmann, of Altona, in 1883, and 

 later a pair, the female of which laid three eggs. 



BROWN-NECKED PARROT (Pceocephalus fuscicollis). 



Above, interscapular region, scapulars, and 

 wing-coverts ,greenish-:brown, greener at edges of 

 the feathers ; lower back, rump, and upper tail- 

 coverts bright grass-green ; bend and front edge 

 of wing vermilion ; flights and tail dark brown ; 

 head and neck silvery-grey, with brown centres 

 to the feathers ; lower part of cheeks and chin .browner ; 

 forehead and sometimes top of head, rose-red; lores 

 blackish ; upper ibreast greenish-grey ; lower breast, 

 abdomen, and tinder tail-coverts bright grass-green ; 

 thighs vermilion ; beak whitish ; feet lead-colour ; iridea 

 maroon. Female probably with shorter beak and a 

 shorter terminal hook. Young without red on bend 

 and front of wing ; thighs mixed green and red. Hab., 

 " Western South Africa, from Gaboon to_ Angola, 

 Damaraland, and across Africa to the Zambesi region." 

 (Salvadori.) 



In Stark and Sclater's "Birds of South Africa," we 

 read : " Mr. Andersson states that this Parrot is very 

 wild and difficult to approach, and that it is only in the 

 dry season in early morning and late evening, when 

 they come down to the water, that they can be 

 procured." 



Russ says that this bird is very rare. Two speci- 

 mens were purchased for the London Zoological Gardens 

 in 1869. 



* A statement confirmed by C. F. M. Swym.ne.Ttoa (The ttia 

 1907, pp. 296, 297). 



