406 



PARROT. 



tail, arc scarlet, but with a dash of purple ; the 

 bastard wing and tlic primary quills arc bright violet 

 blue, the coverts of the latter being tipped with 

 yellow, which is also the colour of the lower side and 

 coverts of the tail ; the fore neck, breast, and anterior 

 part of the body, are clear lilac purple ; the length of 

 the bird, when full grown, is about fourteen inches, 

 which makes it about the average size of the green 

 parrots of South America, but it is a much more 

 splendid bird in its colours. The young have the red 

 parts mottled with green, which mottlings disappear 

 as the birds approach to maturity. 



Various other minor distinctions are made such as 

 the absence of the projecting angle or tooth on each 

 side of the upper mandible, or the tail still shorter 

 than it is in the typical parrots, and not reaching so 

 far as the closed wings. The absence of the tooth 

 denotes a bird living upon rather softer food, or, at all 

 events, food in softer envelopes than that of the 

 species which have the tooth ; just as the carrion- 

 feeding vultures have no tooth in their bills, while the 

 falcons, which kill their prey, and eat it as soon as 

 killed, always have the bill'toothed. The short tail 

 would seem to indicate a bird less disposed to ascend- 

 ing and descending than those which have the tail 

 more produced ; and the birds which have this 

 structure are generally of powerful wing and lofty 

 flight. We shall notice one as a specimen. 



Robart Parrot Latham (J. Le Vaillantu). This is 

 an African species, and appears to be a migrant bird. 

 It occurs on the eastern side of Africa nearly as high 

 as the Cape, but we believe t not in the vicinity of 

 Cape Town. The ground upoil which it is principally 

 found is a wild country, subject to very heavy rains 

 at one season of the year, arid scorching drought at 

 another. The naturalist after whom it has been 

 named was its original discoverer, and he has given 

 an account of its manners. It comes into those high 

 latitudes of Southern Africa, during the warm and 

 dry season, in large flocks ; and appears to move 

 northward, nearer to the equator, when the rains, and 

 the evaporation thence arising, have reduced the 

 temperature of the mountain forests. On their pas- 

 sages these birds fly at a great height, but are very 

 clamorous withal in their flight, as is"'%he case with all 

 the discursive species of the parrot family. The 

 screams which ; they then utter are their call-notes, 

 and, like the rest, they appear to be social birds, and 

 much attached to each other. They migrate south- 

 ward for the purpose of rearing their broods ; and, 

 though each pair seek their own hollow tree for this 

 purpose, a sort of intercourse is kept up among the 

 whole. They are laborious birds, and regular withal 

 in the distribution of their time. As soon as the sun 

 rises they assemble on the tops of the trees, and 

 spread themselves out to the morning sun for the 

 purpose of evaporating the dews of night from their 

 plumage. When this is done, they proceed in quest 

 of their food, which is wild stone-fruit, of which they 

 eat the kernel only. They continue at this feeding 

 till about eleven o'clock, and then they resort to the 

 waters, from which they are never very far distant, 

 in order to enjoy the luxury of a bathe. This being 

 done, they betake themselves to the close shade of 

 the trees, in order to take their scista, during the heat 

 of the day, which they enjoy with the utmost sllfence : 

 but, though they are silent, they are watchful ; for if 

 the report of a musket, or any other loud and'iiHusual 

 Bound, is heard, the whole arc very speedily on the 



wing ; and though, previous to the report, one Would 

 not suspect a single bird to be present in the trees, 

 yet, the instant that it is heard, they rise in such 

 numbers as to fill the air ; screaming in loud and harsh 

 tones, and flying with great rapidity. If undisturbed, 

 they remain quiet during the mid-day, btit come out 

 again in the evening for the purpose of going in 

 quest of their second meal, for they appear to take 

 two regular meals in the course of the day. On their 

 feeding excursions, and also at their morning bathe, 

 they are usually in rather small parties ; but, when 

 supper is over, they assemble in much greater num- 

 bers, and proceed to bathe again. On their evening 

 assemblings they appear all glee and hilarity, and 

 literally exhaust the echoes with their screaming. 

 Then, when they proceed to the pools and streams 

 to the pools especially, for few streams run in 

 Southern Africa during the dry season they tumble 

 and sport about at the edge of the water, and splash 

 and play in a very animated manner. When this 

 assembly breaks up, the pairs proceed ' together, 

 and every pair to their own hollow tree for the night ; 

 but they assemble again at sunrise, and the occupa- 

 tions of one day are simply a repetition of those of 

 another. From this account which Le Vaillant gives 

 of their daily occupations and we should suppose 

 that there is no reason to doubt his veracity it is 

 probable that those birds which breed during the dry 

 season, in countries where the season is very dry, do 

 not require to sit upon their eggs during the day, 

 though they must do so during the night, in order to 

 protect them from the dews, which form so heavily in 

 those countries, and occasion such a reduction of 

 temperature during the night. Upon turning to the 

 article OSTRICH, the reader will find some remarks on 

 the incubation of those birds which deposit their eges 

 in the free air on the naked sand ; and it is not a 

 little satisfactory to learn, that birds which build in 

 the holes of trees, in countries having the same 

 character of seasons, follow a practice nearly similar. 

 These birds agree with the typical parrots in hiving 

 four white eggs about the size of those of pigeons, 

 and both the male and the female are equally atten- 

 tive to the nest. The young, on their first appearance, 

 are quite naked, but they speedily receive a covering 

 of greyish-coloured down, though six weeks elapse 

 before they are in plumage. During all this time 

 the old birds feed them with great assiduity, and 

 appear to have the greatest affection for them. 



These are highly interesting birds, from the regu- 

 larity of their manners ; but the colours of their 

 plumage are not very striking. The head, the neck, 

 and the breast, are dull olive green, darker on the 

 upper part of the head, and marked by a black streak 

 from the gape to the eye ; the lower neck, the 

 scapulars, and the coverts of the wings, are brownish- 

 black, with green borders to the feathers ; the rump, 

 the belly, and the tail-coverts, both upper and under, 

 are bright green ; the turns of the wings, and the 

 feathers on the tibiae, are bright reddish-orange ; the 

 quills and tail-feathers are brownish-black, glossed 

 with green ; and the naked parts of the feet and 

 toes are grey. The active and regular habits of these 

 birds give them a higher degree of interest than is 

 possessed by those species which are habitually 

 found in the same trees ; and it would be very 

 desirable to know to what regions they migrate when 

 they quit Southern Africa during the rainy season. 

 Unfortunate!}', however, we have no information upon 



