RING-NECKED PARRAKEETS. 



203 



mother, and I was obliged to remove the latter to a 

 flight-cage to save her life. The father and daughter 

 paired on several occasions, but without result. Now 

 comes the most remarkable fact. The female which I ihad 

 caged retained its crooked tail until the second moult, 

 and after being two years in a cage it suddenly acquired 

 the perfect colouring of a made bird, shortly after which 

 it died. When opened, the taxidermist assured me that 

 it was a male ibird; the ovariuni had entirely dis- 

 appeared with the exception of two fragments on the 

 left side, which, had become tightly co?ivoluted so as to 

 present the appearance of male organs, the only 

 irregularity in the appearance being their lateral 

 position. 



Had I not known absolutely that it was impossible 

 for me to have made a mistake, the bird having been 

 two years isolated in its female plumage, and at first 

 with the distorted tail acquired during incubation., I 

 should not have hesitated for a moment to accept the 

 verdict of the taxidermist. Doubtless the acquisition of 

 male colouring was due to the decay of the ovarium. 



I found these Parrakeets so destructive to other small 

 birds in the aviary with them that I sent them to a 



ROSE-HEADED PARRAKEET. 



show at the Crystal Palace, pricing them at the cost of 

 the original two pairs of young birds. ; they were speedily 

 snapped up, and I was not .sorry to see the last of them. 

 This species was exhibited at Regent's Park in 1877. 



SLATY-HEADED PAERAKEET (Palosornis schisticeps). 



Green ; .hind-neck tinged with verdigris ; a dark 

 cherry-red patch on median wing-coverts; front edge 

 of wing yellow ; primaries with dark green outer webs 

 with narrow yellowish edge, dark grey inner webs ; 

 centra/1 tail-feathers more or less 'green at base, blue in 

 the middle, bright yellow on distal half, the other 

 feathers green on outer and yellow on inner webs ; head 

 slaty bluish- black; chin, mandibular stripe and a narrow 

 collar at the back of neck, black ; under parts paier and 

 more yellowish-green than above; under wing-coverts 

 verdigris; tail below yellow; ibeak with coral-red upper 

 mandible, the terminal hook and lower mandible yellow ; 

 feet dusky green ; iris straw-colour ; orbital skin slaty. 

 Female without the dark red wing-patch. Hab., North 

 India where, according to Hume, " it is confined to a 

 narrow zone lying between the bases of the sub- 

 Himalamn ranges and" the first high snowy ridge." 



Of this species Jerdon remarks ("Birds of India." 

 Vol. I., p. 261) : " Adams saye : ' Its favourite food is 



seeds of wheat, apricots and pomegranates ; very noisy 

 and gregarious.' " 



Hume says ("Nests and Eggs," Vol. III., p. 89): 

 " The Slaty -headed Paroquet breeds throughout the 

 Himalayas, south of the first Snowy Range, at heights 

 of from 4,000 to 7,000 feet. During the winter they 

 keep much lower down, but about March they ibegin to 

 come upwardis to breed, and the majority lay during 

 the latter half of March and April, though I took one 

 nest of fresh eggs on the 5th. of May. 



" They nest at times in natural hollows of trees ; 

 in fact, this I think is more usual, but not infrequently 

 in holes cut by themselves. The tree in which I have 

 most commonly found them is the hill-oak. The eggs 

 are often very deep down and difficult to secure, 

 especially when, as is often the case, the tree is a sound 

 one. The egg-chamber is at times very large, but is 

 never less than 4 or 5 inches in diameter. TEey lay 

 from four to five eggs, which are commonly placed on 

 chips of wood ; the nest has no other lining. The 

 female site very close, and will not leave her eggs, 

 though you may be ten minutes hacking away with an 

 axe to get down to the nest." 



" The eggs are rather broad ovals, pure white when 

 fresh, and glossless. In size they are intermediate be- 

 tween those of P. purpureus and P. torquatus. They 

 appear to be often much soiled and stained during incu- 

 bation, as is not uncommon with those of P. purpureus, 

 but which is not common with those of P torquatus. 

 In length these eggs vary from 1.08 to 1.17 inch, and 

 in breadth from 0.89 to 0.94 inch ; but the average is 

 about 1.12 by 0.92 inch." 



The P. purpureus of Hume's work is the Indian 

 Blossom-headed Parrakeet. 



Russ does not mention P. schisticeps in his " Hand- 

 book," nor does it appear in the Zoological Society's 

 "List," but Mr. 'Seth-Smith says ("Parrakeets," 

 p. 107) : " It is a very beautiful Parrakeet, 'but one 

 that is seldom seen alive in England." 



BURMESE SLATY-HEADED PARRAKEET (Palo&ornis 

 finschi). 



Differs from the preceding in the yellower tint of 

 the green ; the bluer head and the more brownish back ; 

 the central tail-feathers much narrower ; beak with 

 upper mandible orange-vermilion tipped with yellowish ; 

 lower mandible pale yellow ; feet pale sordid green ; 

 irides creamy white or grey with a narrow inner ring 

 of golden yellow ; sometimes pale brown, with an 

 outer ring of white. Female smaller and without the 

 dark red wing-patch. Hab., Burmah, and probably 

 northward to Arrakan. 



According to Mr. Davison (" Stray Feathers," 

 Vol. VI., p. 119), "It occurs in small parties, frequent- 

 ing the edges and thinner portions of the forest and 

 the .banks of streams. Its voice is very similar to that 

 of P. schisticeps of India." 



Mr. Davison found it feeding upon large red flowers, 

 but doubtless its general food would be similar to that 

 of other species of Palaeornis. 



Mr. E. W. Harper presented a specimen of this very 

 rare Parrakeet to the London Zoological Society in 

 1900. 



MALABAR PARRAKEET (Palceornis per ister odes). 



Green, somewhat bluer above than below ; the head, 

 neck, upper back, and breast ashy-grey, with the excep- 

 tion of the forehead, which is green edged behind with 

 blue; the lores and a patch encircling the_eyes, which 

 are green ; from the beak runs a broad black moustaciiial 

 stripe which joins a black collar bordered behind by 



