PAERAKEETS. 



213 



with a shorter, narrower, and altogether more elegantly 

 formed beak ; the young have the beak horn-coloured 

 with yellow edges, the feet black, and the iris dark 

 brown. Hab., Western Fiji Islands. 



E. L. Layard says (" Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society," 1875, p. 426) : " This species is characterised 

 by possessing a musky smell, resembling that of a 

 he-goat. I supposed it originated from the trees in 

 the holes of which they breed; but having obtained 

 some very young birds, I noticed they did not smell. 

 Since, however, they have attained their full plumage 

 the odious scent has come to them. They are 

 easily reared, 'become very tame, and may be trusted 

 with their liberty, foraging for themselves in the forest, 

 and returning to roost to their old nursery. A young 

 lady of my acquaintance has two which thus fly at 

 liberty; and my own 'birds keep to the house, and 



never dream of fly- 

 I i n away. In cer- 

 tain lights their 

 ! plumage is shot with 

 a beautiful golden 

 sheen, which be- 



MASKED PARRAKEETS. 



comes dim in a dead specimen. The iris changes 

 from brown in the nestling to a brick-red with a dash 

 of orange in it in the adult ; the bill is dark horn- 

 colour, with a whitish tip; the feet livid black. In 

 habits they resemble the former species, and keep to 

 the same description of country, forest and wooded 

 river -banks. Breed in holes of trees, and lay two eggs ; 

 axis 1" 6'", diameter 1" 3'". Called ' Vanga ' at Bua. 

 (Holmes.) 



" The nestling of this Parrot is green above, feathers 

 here and there tipped with white down; black on the 

 face scarcely showing. Body covered with 'black down, 

 with a row of bright yellow feathers changing into 

 orange on the ibelly and vent on each side ; outside the 

 yellow cere a few green feathers appearing. Bill horn- 

 colour, with the edges, tips, and bases of ^mandibles 

 orange. Thighs nearly naked. Tarsi livid. Iris brown." 



Von Comely, who, in 1883, had six examples of this 

 species, describes it as vigorous and enduring, not sensi- 

 tive .to cold. It is, however, noted by Kuss as rare, and 

 only met with singly in the trade. For many years I 

 used to see a fine example daily outside a house between 

 my own dwelling and the railwav station. The London 

 Zoological Society first acquired it in 1862, and must 



altogether have possessed close on a dozen specimens 

 from first to last. A specimen was exhibited at the 

 Crystal Palace in 1899 ; as also were specimens of the 

 other two imported species of this genus. 



Psittinus is a genus of short-tailed Parrakeets, with 

 moderately swollen beak, the upper mandible notched. 

 Russ recommends as food hemp, canary, millet, and 

 other seeds ; boiled rice occasionally, egg-bread, ants' 

 cocoons, and fruit. (I should object to the boiled rice 

 and egg-bread.) 



BLTTE-RUMPED PARRAKEET (Psittinus incertus). 

 Upper back and scapulars olivaceous black ; lower 

 back, rump, and upper tail-coverts deep .blue ; wings 

 green, the front edge yellow ; a dark red patch along 

 the lesser coverts ; the coverts and the last secondaries 

 edged with greenish-yellow ; bastard-wing edged with 



blue ; primary coverts 

 blue ; primaries with the 

 inner webs black narrowly 

 edged with yellow; late- 

 ral tail-feathers greenish - 

 yellow, central feathers 

 green ; head and neck grey more 

 or less tinged with blue ; under 

 surface olive-green suffused with 

 bluish-grey ; vent green tinged 

 with blue; under tail-coverts 

 yellowish-green, slightly edged 

 with blue ; under wing-coverts 

 and axillaries bright red ; pri- 

 maries below black ; tail below 

 yellow ; upper mandible orange- 

 vermilion, lower mandible dull 

 reddish-brown ; feet pale sordid 

 green ; eyelids and cere dull 

 green ; irides creamy white. 

 Female with the back, rump, 

 and upper tail-coverts green, a 

 small blue patch on lower 

 back ; head and nape red- 

 ' dish -'brown, sides of head 

 yellowish tinged with red- 

 dish-brown and with 

 dusky shafts to the 

 ____________ feathers ; under surface 



yellowish - green, the 

 breast - feathers with 



darker centres ; upper mandible dusky white, lower 

 mandible sordid white; feet dull green, as well as 

 cere and eyelids. The beak is also noticeably shorter 

 than in the male. Ha-b., Tenasserim to Malaysia, 

 Singapore, Sumatra, Bangka, and Borneo. 



Mr. W. Davison ("Stray Feathers," Vol. VI., p. 120) 

 observes: "It frequents principally old tounyahs and 

 other places where there is a dense growth of secondary 

 scrub. It feeds chiefly on the small gummy flowers of 

 a plant that always springs up where forest has been 

 felled and burnt. It goes about in small flocks of fifteen 

 or more, and is not at all shy or wild. 



" It is migratory in Tenasserim, coming in just before 

 the setting in of the rains, about April and May, though 

 a very few do arrive earlier, about the last week in 

 March. In June and July, I am told, they are very 

 common about Malewoon. 



" They have nothing of the harsh screaming notes of 

 the Paroquets, their usual note being a sharp whistle 

 not unlike that of Codornis ; they have also a series of 

 pleasant notes a warble, in fact which they chiefly 

 give utterance to when seated. 



" It has a rapid flight, and you often see small parties 

 of them (like Loriculus) flying about round and round 



