414 



PARROT. 



Otahcito, and it is a very handsome little bird. Its 

 bill is slender, and rose-coloured. The top of the 

 head is 3'ellowish-green, behind which there is a crest 

 of bright purple feathers, which the bird can erect 

 when it is excited. The remainder of the upper part 

 is green, passing gradually on the rump and upper 

 coverts of the tail ; the tail feathers are deep green 

 with a purplish tinge, and slightly margined with pale 

 yellowish green ; the cheeks, fore neck, breast, and 

 under parts, as far as the feathering of the tarsi, are 

 ileep red, the feathers being loose and flocculent, and 

 the under coverts of the tail are yellow. 



In the same group of islands there are some other 

 birds, apparently of the same genus, but differing 

 from this one in their colours. Some of these have 

 blue where this one has green and yellow, and white 

 where it has red ; and others are variously coloured. 

 Their habits appear, however, to be exactly the same, 

 and they subsist entirely cr chiefly upon the honey 

 of flowers, of which there is a constant supply in 

 those islands of perpetual summer. They are clever 

 on the wing, and altogether very delightful little birds. 

 Their voices are also soft and murmuring, and with- 

 out any of the harshness which characterises the 

 sounds emitted by the hard-billed parrots. Some 

 specimens of them have been brought alive to Europe, 

 but we are not aware that any attempt has been made 

 to teach them to articulate. 



Blue-crowned Little Parrot (P. vcrnalis). This 

 bird is a native of the Philippine Islands, and it is a 

 very pretty little creature. Its length does not exceed 

 four inches and a half, but it is a perfect miniature of 

 a parrot. In the" young birds the greater part of the 

 plumage is green, but in the full-grown male the top 

 of the head and the under sides of the quills and tail 

 feathers are blue. The lower part of the back, the 

 rump, and the upper tail coverts, are deep red, and 

 the feet and toes are black. In the full-grown male 

 also the throat is red, and there is a demicollar of 

 yellow on the hind neck. In many of the islands of 

 the Pacific there are various species of these psiltaculi, 

 or little parrots, not exceeding in size the common 

 little birds which we meet with in our own country ; 

 but their history and manners are very little known. 

 It should seem, however, that the whole of them 

 subsist chiefly on the sweet juices which they collect 

 from the nectaries of flowers ; and as they float about 

 over the cocoa-nut trees, and other evergreens of the 

 countries which they inhabit, they are very amusing 

 little creatures. 



There still remain some very peculiar species of 

 the parrot family which inhabit the south, especially 

 New Holland and Madagascar. Their place in the 

 system has not been very clearly ascertained ; but 

 one portion of them have got the name of Platycer- 

 cus, from the breadth and extensibility of the tails ; 

 another has been called Nanodes ; and a third, Pero- 

 porus, from being found chiefly upon the surface of 

 the earth, and not perching upon trees. Little or 

 nothing is known of the rest of them, and this article 

 has already extended to such a length that we shall 

 content ourselves with merely noticing a single spe- 

 cies of each of the subdivisions to which we have 

 alluded. 



The Plalicuru, or broad tails, are inhabitants of 

 New Holland ; and, though their bills are small, they 

 belong to the hard-billed parrots, rather than to those 

 which follow in the train of the lories. They are 

 chiefly found in New Holland, where they attack the 



plantations in great flock?, and do consider;! 

 ; but some of them arc highly relished 



game. 



One species, which has been denominated Penna 

 broad tail, is called a lory by the settlers of Austn 

 because its general plumage is red. The tail is b 

 however, and so are the coverts and turns of 

 wings, and a peculiarly formed whisker descend 

 from the gape. The total length is about sixt 

 inches, but half of that length is occupied by the I 

 It is a very pretty bird, and sometimes kept in ca 

 for show, but it does not appear to be capable 

 much education. 



Another species, which is much more beaut 

 in its plumage than the former, has been denornina 

 Pnlc-hcadcd. It is found in some parts of New 1 

 land, but much more abundantly in New (juii 

 The tail is very long and broad, the two middle 

 thers green, and the rest violet, almost white at 

 margins. The tibiffi and under part backwards h 

 their feathers deep red. The rest of the lower p 

 as far as the neck, is violet ; the wings are blue, 

 upper part yellow, with the centres of the feat! 

 dusky ; and the head and neck dull white, mon 

 less relieved by yellow. 



The species to which the name of Nanodes 

 been given are very pretty little birds. They 

 perch ; but they are also clever walkers, and in 

 at least, the parrot form, with the exception of 

 bill, is entirely departed trorn. The species to wl 

 we allude is the waved or undulated one (JV. und 

 tus). It is a pretty little bird, about seven inche 

 length, of which the tail occupies half. The gen 

 colours are greenish, yellow, and brown, with bhu 

 the middle feathers of the tail, which are very in 

 produced ; and there is a small patch of blue on t 

 cheek. This handsome little bird is very conimo 

 New Holland and Van Diemen's Land, and app 

 as often upon the ground as on trees. There 

 several other species, some of them approaching m 

 more to the form of parrots, or rather perhap: 

 maccaws ; but they are much more ground birds t 

 any of these, though they eat seeds rather than 

 and pulpy substances. We have space left onlj 

 one other species, 



The Grand Parrot (Peroptcrusformosus). Th 

 a remarkable instance of a zygodactylic bird ada| 

 for walking on the ground. The tarsi and toes 

 very long ; and the claws upon the latter, instea 

 being hooked, as they are in the tree parrots, 

 comparatively straight. The bill is small and si 

 but decidedly that of a parrot, with the upper n 

 dible much hooked, and the lower one much arcl 

 The general tint of the plumage is green, but m 

 barred and mottled with black and yellow. 

 wings are of moderate length, but the tail is i 

 long and pointed. This bird is found in New 1 

 land, and more especially in Van Diemen's L; 

 where it generally inhabits what is called the " ba 

 that is, the places which are covered with low ?hr 

 It does not perch upon trees, but runs upon 

 ground among them ; and, when it is raised, it. h 

 leaping flight, and very speedily alights in ano 

 part of the bush. Its manners are, however, very 

 perfectly known. 



Such is a slight outline of the parrot family, 

 questionably the most peculiar and most interes 

 of the feathered race, and also one of the best defi 

 In the course of our few and slight remarks, we 1 



