PARROTS AND WOODPECKERS 



They are almost always talking gently and cheerfully 

 even when quite solitary, so that a little careful 

 search is all that is necessary to discover them even 

 when among heavy masses of foliage. Shortly after 

 the breeding season great numbers of fledglings of 

 this species, of P. cyanoceplialus, P. torquatus and 

 P. nepalensis, are brought into Calcutta for sale, and 

 you may constantly meet men carrying large wicker 

 cages, slung over their shoulders, and containing 

 little mobs of plaintive prisoners, who sit huddled 

 together in sad small heaps, with all their quaintly- 

 rounded heads convergent and their budding tails 

 forming a radiant fringe (Plate XII.). The two 

 first species are very ornamental and attractive pets, 

 but it is not so easy to understand why there 

 should be any great demand for the other two, 

 and especially for birds like the common parrots, 

 who, in captivity, are mainly characterised by an 

 outrageously discordant voice and an excessively bad 

 temper. 



Another Indian parrot that is almost always to 

 be found in the bazaars of Calcutta is the little green 

 loriquet, Loriculus vernalis. These birds are certainly 

 very decorative in an aviary, and, to a certain extent, 

 are amusing, owing to their odd habit of roosting 

 upside down and hanging by their claws, but they 

 are both stupid and ill-tempered, always ready 

 to bully their weaker neighbours and destroy their 

 nests and eggs. They are very fond of flowers, not 



