2 GARDEN AND AVIARY BIRDS. 



find numbers of green Parrots with long, pointed tails, 

 and if we watch the domestic affairs of these we shall 

 discover that their young, as a rule, preserve the same 

 type. All these birds, therefore, we group as a species, 

 called in English the Rose-ringed Parrakeet, from the 

 pink ring on the neck of the males. In some places we 

 shall come across a smaller Parrakeet, of the same general 

 shape, but with the head of a strikingly different colour 

 from the body plum-colour in the male and dull purple 

 in the female. If we attend to the propagation of 

 these we shall discover that their young in turn resemble 

 them, although the coloured head takes some time to 

 develop. These, then, form another species, called the 

 Plum-headed Parrakeet. 



Further research will show us yet other kinds, all agree- 

 ing in general shape, but differing slightly in propor- 

 tions, and more in colour. We group all these together 

 as a genus ; in popular language, they are all birds of 

 the same style, though each species, or collection of in- 

 dividuals, differs in certain details which are peculiar to it. 



If we examine the Parrakeets brought from Australia, 

 we shall observe that while they can be divided up into 

 groups of individuals, forming species, which groups 

 differ in colour even more strikingly than our Indian 

 birds, yet many of them agree closely in certain details 

 which mark them off as another group or genus. Thus, 

 though their tails are long and pointed, they are very 

 much shorter and broader than those of the Indian 

 Parrakeets ; their legs are longer, and, if we come to keep 

 and observe them, we shall find their movements are 



