ALEXANDRINE BIXG-PARRAKEET. 93 



ots were known, either to the Greeks or Romans, 

 previous to the time of Nero, were exclusively 

 brought from India or its islands,-;and that the spe- 

 cies, if more than one had been introduced, also be- 

 Jopged to the genus now in the course of illustration, 

 the description they have given of the plumage of 

 these birds pointing distinctly to this, and possibly 

 one or two other nearly allied species, as not only 

 the prevailing colour of the body, but that of the 

 bill, and the distinguishing characteristic, the neck- 

 vollar, are particularly mentioned. By Aristotle it 

 As called lo Iv^izov ogvtov the Indian Bird ; and Pliny 

 not only mentions the country from whence it came 

 but adds, "Sittacen vocat, viridem toto corpore tor- 

 que tantum miniato in cervice distinctam." Its imi- 

 tative qualities and powers of articulation, and the 

 high estimation in which it was held among the great, 

 are also fiequently adverted to by the poets ; and it 

 was in commemoration of a favourite bird of this 

 species, that Ovid composed that beautiful elegy, 

 commencing 



" Psittacus, Eois imitatrix ales ab oris, 

 Occidit." 



Of this elegy a free translation is given in Shaw's 

 Zoology, to which, from its length, we must refer 

 our readers. The Alexandrine, as well as its con- 

 gener the Rose-ring Parrakeet, are still highly prized, 

 and frequently brought from the East Indies, as ; in 



