PARROTS. 197 



erythacus, LINN.), as that species is the most 

 renowned for its powers of imitative speech, and 

 is the most commonly kept in captivity. We 

 shall illustrate the Family, however, by a genus 

 of ancient renown. 



GENUS PALJEORNIS. (Vio.) 



The Ring Parroquets, as the birds of this 

 genus are termed, are distinguished by having 

 the beak rather thick ; the upper mandible di- 

 lated, the upper part (culmeri) round; the lower 

 mandible broad, short, and notched on the mar- 

 gin. The wings are moderate ; the first three quills 

 nearly equal, and longest ; the outer webs of the 

 second, third, and fourth, gradually broader in 

 the middle. The tail is graduated ; that is, the 

 feathers diminish in length from the centre out- 

 ^vard ; the middle pair much exceed the rest in 

 length, and are very slender. The feet are short 

 and weak, the claws rather slender, and hooked. 

 The general form is taper and elegant, the plu- 

 mage smooth and silky : the ground-colour is 

 usually green, sometimes merging into yellow ; 

 the neck is marked with a narrow line running 

 round it like a collar. 



The accounts we find in the ancient Greek au- 

 thors, of Parrots known to them, refer to some 

 species of this beautiful genus, as we gather from 

 their descriptions. Some three or four kinds they 

 appear to have been familiar with, which were 

 first introduced into Europe at the time of the 

 conquest of India by Alexander the Great, and 

 one of which has been named in commemoration 

 of him, Palteornis Alexandri. In their native 



