188 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



JARDINE'S PARROT (Pccocephalus gulielmi). 



The prevailing colour of this bird is grass-green, the 

 forehead, bend and front margin of wing, and thighs 

 varying from yellowish-orange to red ; lores blackish ; 

 back and shoulders brownish-black, each feather with 

 a dark green border ; rump yellowish-green ; sides of 

 abdomen and lower tail-coverts with olive-yellowish 

 centres to the feathers ; beak greenish-Mack, the base, 

 cere, and naked space encircling the eye flesh coloured ; 

 feet greyish-black ; iris pale brown. 



The female is rather smaller than the male, and has 

 a lighter and less powerful beak. In the young the 

 forehead, bend and front margin of wing, and the thighs 

 are green, but the axillaries and under wing-coverts 

 are partly red. Hab., " Western Africa from the Gold 

 Coast to the Congo." (Salvadori.) 



Respecting a form of this species occurring in 

 Cameroon, Mr. G. L. Bates says (The Ibis, 1904, p. 91) : 

 " The green Parrots (Pceocephahis aubryanus) were 

 shot in a tree, where they were feeding. These birds 

 have so little fear that they will return to the same tree 

 again and again, till all the flock is killed. They are 

 seen here only occasionally." In The Ibis for 1907, 

 p. 428, he says : " Heard in the Zima Country. The 

 species is known by its shriller scream." I have not 

 discovered any other field-notes relating to this species. 



It is not a particularly rare bird in the European 

 markets, but acclimatised specimens, and especially 

 talkers, fetch a tolerably high price. 



As regards its capacity for learning, individuals vary 

 greatly. Dr. Russ, from his experience of the species, 

 describes it as " very quiet, and exhibiting little 

 activity ; only when terrified and anxious uttering a 

 shrill cry. A little gifted with speech." In opposition 

 to this verdict, it will be remembered that in Th<> 

 Feathered World for June 30. 1899. J. McMillan pub- 

 lished a very entertaining account of a specimen in his 

 possession which (without any systematic training) had 

 picked iip numerous sentences, called the children by 

 their Christian names, laughed, cried, whistled, and 

 imitated the milkman's call. 



The first specimen of Jardine's Parrot exhibited in 

 the Regent's Park Gardens was deposited in 1862; 

 others have, from time to time, been on view there since 

 that date. 



BROWN-HEADED PARROT (Pceocfphalus fn.:n:u /,'dlus}. 



Green ; lower 'back, rump and upper tail-coverts, 

 brighter; flights 'brown, edged with green on outer 

 webs, tail-feathers olive-brown, tipped, and edged on 

 outer webs, with green; head and neck olivaceous 

 greyish-brown ; ear-coverte silvery-grey ; breast, abdo- 

 men, and under tail-coverts paler and brighter green 

 than Tipper back ; under wing-coverts yellow ; upper 

 mandible horn-colour, lower mandible white ; feet 

 black ; irides yellow. Female smaller. Ha"b., " Zanzibar 

 and South-eastern Africa, from Mombas to Swaziland." 

 (Salvadori.) 



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

 197, we read : " This seems to be. as Dr. Kirk remarks, 

 the most common of the Parrot tribe in Eastern Tropical 

 Africa, and it has been found at various places from 

 Uzaraino southwards to the Zambesi region; here Dr. 

 Kirk says it is called " Goe," and he states that it is 

 " usually found in small flocks or in pairs ; feeds on 

 fruits, such as figs, etc., but also eats native millet and 

 maize. Its clear scream may be heard at a great dis- 

 tance." 



Mr. Frank Finn, writing on East African birds (The. 

 Ibis, 1893, p. 229), says : " I met with this bird on a 

 few occasions in captivity at Zanzibar and Mombasa, 



and wild some miles away from the latter town on the 

 mainland. It flies with a quicker stroke of the wings 

 than one would expect from their length." 



Capt. Shelley, writing on birds from British Central 

 Africa (The lb\*, 1901, p. 176), says the native name is 

 Xyii'l. Later in the same volume {p. 593) he spells the 

 name X<jir< . 



Stark and Sclater (''Birds of South Africa," Vol. III., 

 pp. 227, 228) say: "The Woodwards found these 

 Parrots, pretty common on the thorn flats of Zululand : 

 " They are generally seen in pairs, and fly very rapidly, 

 uttering shrill screams. They are fond of wild figs, the 

 fruit of a huge species of banyan tree, which grows 

 along the banks of many of the larger rivers, and we 

 have seen them feeding on green mealies in the Kaffir 

 mealie gardens. These Parrots make round holes in the 

 dead trees, Avhere they lay their eggs. We found one ; 

 it was pure white, and nearly round." 



Mr. C. F. M. Swynnerton, writing on the birds of 

 Gazaland, says (The Ibis, 1907, pp. 297, 298): -'A 

 single specimen of this Parrot was brought to me in 

 April. 1895, by a native, who had caught it with bird- 

 lime in the Jihu ; it lived in my aviary till November, 

 when it died. Though wild enough for a time, it was 

 remarkably tame for a fortnight or so before its death, 

 climbing down daily to my hand and picking the grains 

 from a mealie-cob ; it was noticeably sick only for a day 

 before its death. This sudden tameness before death 

 appears not to be uncommon, Mr. Marshall informing 

 me that he has seen several instances of it in his aviary 

 at Salisbury." 



In The Ibia for 1908, the same writer says (p. 418) : 

 "Two of these Parrots flew over my homestead near 

 Chirinda on August 29. It is the common species of the 

 low veld, and I came across it constantly in travelling 

 from Inyajena to Chibabava and on to Chironda, as 

 well as in the Madanda forests during December and 

 Januaxy. It might usually be heard all day in the 

 dense foliage of the large Trichilias and other trees in 

 parties of as many as six or seven together. Under 

 these circumstances a continuous conversation of com- 

 paratively pleasant conversational notes is kept up. the 

 shriek uttered in flying being somewhat harsher, though 

 Jess piercing, than that of our other two species. It is 

 far tamer than either of these, and will usually permit 

 anyone to pass under the tree without moving, though 

 even then its green coloration renders it very difficult 

 to detect amongst the dense foliage." 



Russ says this is rare, and received singly in the 

 market. The first two specimens exhibited in the 

 London Zoological Gardens were presented in 1870, and 

 I do not know of others having arrived there since that 

 date. 



YELLOW -FRONTED PARROT (Poeocephalus flavifroit*}. 



Green, with brighter edges to the feathers; lower 

 back, rump, and upper tail-coverts paler and brighter, 

 yellower at base of feathers ; flights brawn, greenish 

 and edged with green on outer webs; tail olive-brow:, 

 with a golden sheen ; forehead, top of head, lores, 

 orbital region, and upper part of cheeks yellow ; lower 

 breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts brighter green 

 than upper back ; thighs more or less yellow ; tail below 

 golden olive-brown ; beak pale dusky horn-colour, with 

 more or less whitish under mandible ; feet ashy or 

 blackish; ii-ides red or reddish. Female not differen- 

 tiated. Hab., North-east Africa from Shoa to 

 Abyssinia. 



Heuglin says (" Ornithologie Nord-Ost Africa's," 1, 

 2, p. 742) : " I found this species not rare in January 

 in Ataba Valley in the Abyssinian province Telemet, at 



