THE HINGED PARRAKEET. 



517 



THE genus Palaeornis, of which the 

 RINGED PAKRAKEET is an excellent ex- 

 ample, is a very extensive one, and has 

 representatives in almost every hot por- 

 tion of the world, even including Aus- 

 tralia. 



The Ringed Parrakeet is found both 

 in Africa aud 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 favourite 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 Alex- 

 andrine Ringed Parrakeet (Palceornis 

 Alexandri). 



The individual from which the illus- 

 tration is taken belongs to one of my 

 friends, and is a very great favourite in 

 the house, being looked upon more in the 

 light of a human being than a bird. Her 

 birthday is scrupulously kept, and on 

 that auspicious morning she is always 

 presented with a sponge cake, which she 

 eats daintily while sitting on the mantel- 

 piece, chuckling to herself at intervals. 

 She is a most affectionate little creature, 

 and cannot bear that any of her espe- 

 cial friends should leave the room with- 

 out bidding farewell , and I once saw her 

 set up such a screech because her mis- 

 tress happened to go away without speak- 

 ing to her, that she had to be taken out 

 of her cage and comforted before she 

 would settle quietly. 



Her owner, by whose permission the 

 portrait was taken, has kindly presented to 

 me the following account of the bird : 



"You ask me to tell you something 

 about my little Polly ; perhaps the sim- 

 plest plan will be to give a sketch of her 

 history,, premising that although I believe 

 my little pet to be a male, still, as I love 

 her so tenderly, I always use the femi- 

 nine pronoun in speaking of and to her. 



Polly's birthplace was Trincomalee, 

 and she was brought over to this country 

 by one of my wife's sons, an officer in the 

 R'oyal Navy, being accompanied hither 

 by a vast retinue of Parrakeets, almost 

 all of whom fell victims to the rough cold 

 weather which they had to encounter, 

 with the change of climate. 



together 



RINGED PARRAKEET. Palxernis torqudtus. 



