60 THE PURPLE PARROT. 



tAurore. Its length is sixteen inches, of which the tail, which 

 is round, measures half. The beak is nine lines in length; 

 there is no naked membrane, and the nostrils are in front ; the 

 iris is of a golden hue. The head, the nape of the neck, and 

 all the lower part of the body, are the colour of vermilion. A 

 ring of sky blue, very indistinct, surrounds the neck ; all the 

 feathers en the top of the body are of a beautiful green, with a 

 fine edge of blue, or some dark colour. 



In the female, the head is green ; the throat, the under part 

 of the neck, and the breast, are the same, but having a reddish 

 tint. The small tail-coverts are dark green, edged with red ; 

 the tail itself is tinged with green. The beak is horn brown, 

 with a reddish tint above and below. 



OBSERVATIONS. A pair of this beautiful species were sold to his High- 

 ness the Duke of Meiningen as coming from Botany Bay, but they are 

 really natives of Amboina. Timid and wild, this bird has a sharp whistle 

 and a cry like " gaick? but cannot speak. The feathers are so loose that 

 they generally come off in the hand when touched ; but they grow again 

 very quickly. It is kept and treated like the others. 



THE PURPLE PARROT. 



Psittacus Pennanti, LATHAM ; La Purpure ; Der Pennantsche Sittich, BECHSTEIN. 



IN the male, which very much resembles the sparrow-hawk, 

 the prevailing colour is a reddish purple, from which it derives 

 its name among bird- sellers. The head and rump are dark 

 crimson ; the throat, as well as the small outer wing-coverts, 

 and the centre pen-feathers, are of a most beautiful sky blue ; 

 all the under part of the body is bright crimson, shading to 

 bluish on the thighs. The tail is of a deep blue. 



In the female, which the bird-sellers pass as a different 

 species, under the name of the Palm-tree Parrot, the prevailing 

 colour is greenish yellow ; it resembles the male sparrow-hawk 

 in make. The head, the sides of the neck, and half the breast, 

 are of a bright crimson ; the throat pearl blue, shading a little 

 to sky blue on the edges; the top of the neck, the back, 

 shoulders, and last quill-feathers, are of a velvet black. All 

 the feathers are edged with greenish yellow, except the scapu- 

 lars and the feathers of the neck, the edges of which are the 



