102 THE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



being of a most even and delicate yellow, and retaining 

 the bright red bill of the ordinary green bird. Among the 

 wild green birds brought into Tiretta Bazaar presum- 

 ably for sale to the guileless sailor one often sees speci- 

 mens more or less heavily splashed with yellow, and 

 probably by pairing these the pure yellow form could be 

 bred at will in a few generations. In the only observed 

 case known to me of the actual production of this variety, 

 however, T am told that the parents are just two ordinary 

 green Parrots ; they breed every year in the same tree 

 and all their brood are always yellow, and a lively com- 

 petition exists among the local natives for the position of 

 these valuable youngsters. 



It is a very curious fact that, popular as the Parrot ha* 

 always been as a pet, the native fanciers have never 

 attempted to breed this " sport ' in confinement ; whereas 

 in the case of the little Australian Grass Parrakeet or 

 "Budgerigar" (Melopsittacus undulatus) which has only 

 been known as a cage-bird in Europe for about half a 

 century, a yellow variety has already been fixed, and is 

 now offered for sale at a price doubtless highly gratifying 

 to its producers. The Budgerigar is a familiar cage-bird 

 here and has even escaped and bred, but it has not yet, 

 at all events, established itself as one of our wild birds. 



Our own native bird is certainly not very conspicuous 

 here at most times, and I was astonished to find him so 

 abundant in Bombay, where he is as numerous as the 

 mynah in Calcutta. The Parrot, however, will make his 

 presence felt wherever he is. and his familiar squeal over 

 head is one of the pleasantest sounds of a cold weather 



