120 



PARROTS. 



the first group, as represented by the blue-winged parrotlet (Psittacula passerina) 

 the rump is ultramarine blue ; in the second (P. speugeli) it is turquoise ; and in 



the third (P.guianen- 

 sis) green. We may 

 remark here that the 

 reader will scarcely 

 fail to notice what a 

 number of members 

 of the parrot tribe 

 are restricted to the 

 Southern Hemisphere, 

 where they are es- 

 pecially numerous in 

 South America, Aus- 

 tralia, and the Papuan 

 Islands. This has 

 been taken to indicate 

 that these birds con- 

 stitute an originally 



BLUE-WINGED PARROTLET. SOUthem glX)Up, al- 



though it is much 



more probable that they were primarily developed in the Northern Hemisphere. 

 All-Green Our last example of the subfamily is the all-green or tirika 



Parraquet. parraquet (Brotogerys tiricct), representing a genus with several 

 species, distinguished by the long tail, the somewhat compressed form of the 

 beak, in which the nostrils open in a completely naked cere, and the absence of 

 a tufted oil-gland. The species figured on the opposite page is the largest of the 

 genus, measuring 10 inches in total length, whereas some of the others are less than 

 7. It takes its name from the all-pervading green of the plumage, to which the 

 only exceptions are the blue primaries and primary coverts, a slight tinge of olive- 

 brown on the lesser upper wing-coverts, and of blue on the middle tail-feathers. 

 This species is an inhabitant of Eastern Brazil ; the range of the genus extending 

 from that country, Peru and Bolivia, to Central America. In Eastern Brazil the 

 tirika is one of the commonest of the parrot tribe, associating in countless flocks, 

 which may be seen flying from grove to grove, or descending to ravage the rice and 

 maize fields. Their cry is a short, sharp, clear scream. In captivity these 

 parraquets thrive well. 



BLUNT-TAILED GREEN PARROTS. 

 Subfamily PIONIX^E. 



The familiar Amazon parrots are among the best known representatives of a 

 large subfamily, containing several American genera and also a single African one. 

 All these parrots are distinguished from the members of the preceding subfamily 

 by their broad and short or moderate tails, which are never of the acuminate and 



