878 



THE RINGED PARRAKEET. 



have many of the habits of our game birds, and a very strong game odor. It runs very 

 rapidly on the ground, and is especially excellent at getting through grass-stems, among 

 which it winds its way with such wonderful celerity, that it can baffle almost any dog. Flight 

 seems to be its last resource ; and even when it does take to wing, it remains in the air but a 

 very short time, and then pitches and takes to its feet. 



The flight is very low, very quick, as bewilderingly irregular as that of the snipe, but 

 is not maintained for more than a hundred yards. When the dogs come near the place where 

 it is concealed, it crouches closely to the ground, hoping thereby to escape detection ; but 



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GROUND PARRAKEET. Pezaponu formomu. 



if this stratagem should prove of no avail, it leaps suddenly into the air, dashes forward for 

 a few yards, and then settles again. This bird makes no nest, and does not even make it 

 home in the hollow of a tree, but lays its white eggs upon the bare ground. 



The flesh of the Ground Parrakeet bears some resemblance to that of some game birds, 

 and is said to be somewhat of the same character as that of the snipe or the quail. 



The general color of this pretty bird is dark green above, mottled with yellow and varie- 

 gated with a multitude of black semilunar markings. The under surface is yellow, changing 

 to a greener tint upon the throat, and also mottled with a darker hue. The tail is long and 

 slender, the two central feathers are green barred with yellow, and the rest are marked in just 

 the reverse fashion, being yellow barred with dark green. 



THE genus Palseornis, of which the RINGED PARRAKEET is an excellent example, is a very 

 extensive one, and has representatives in almost every hot portion of the world, even including 

 Australia. 



The Ringed Parrakeet is found both in Africa and Asia, the only difference perceptible 

 between the individuals brought from the two continents being that the Asiatic species is 

 rather larger than its African relative. It has long been the favorite of man as a caged bird, 

 and is one of the species to which such frequent reference is made by the ancient writers, the 

 other species being the Alexandrine Ringed Parrakeet (Palceornis alexancbri). 



