Parrotlets and Amazons 471 



times it appears in flocks of tens of thousands, completely stripping the grain- 

 fields. In autumn and summer they feed principally on the seeds of the thistle. 



Closely allied to the above but distinguished by having the nostrils exposed 

 and opening in a cere which is much swollen all round, is a genus of some seven 

 little Parakeets (Bolborhynchus), which range from Mexico to northern Chile 

 and Argentina. 



Parrotlets, American Love Birds. Very much smaller than these, indeed 

 the smallest of this group, are the pretty little Parrotlets, or American Love Birds 

 (Psittacula), only one of which exceeds five inches in length and this one by but 

 half an inch. They have relatively rather short tails, a different plumage in 

 the two sexes, and curiously enough no furcula. Mainly green and blue in colora- 

 tion, they may be divided into three groups, according to the color of the rump 

 in the males, this being in the first a more or less deep ultramarine -blue, in the 

 second a turquoise-blue, and in the third an emerald-green. Of the fourteen 

 species which range from western Mexico to Brazil and Bolivia, the Tres Marias 

 Love Bird (P. insularis), or Catarina, as it is called by the Mexicans, is confined 

 to the Tres Marias Islands, where Mr. Nelson says it is usually seen in flocks, 

 from a few pairs up to thirty or forty individuals. In May when he observed 

 them they were feeding on a small, sw r eet fig which was common on the lower 

 slopes. " When feeding they keep up a constant chattering, which notifies one 

 of their presence. When flying over the top of the forest they keep in compact 

 flocks and move steadily forward with rapid wing-beats, suggesting a flock of 

 Cedar Birds. They are very gentle, affectionate little creatures and quickly 

 become attached to their owners." 



Amazons, or Blunt-tailed Green Parrots. Under this somewhat ponder- 

 ous designation are aggregated some ten genera and nearly one hundred 

 species of small or medium-sized, mainly green-plumaged Parrots, whose 

 most marked characteristic is the possession of a short and broad, rather 

 round or even square tail about half the length of the wing, a moderately 

 strong bill, and a swollen, naked cere. The great majority of these birds are 

 confined to the tropical parts of the New World, but curiously enough a 

 single albeit a large genus of over twenty species is widely spread over 

 Africa south of the Desert of Sahara. Of the American forms perhaps the 

 most typical are the Amazons (Amazona), of which there are about forty-five 

 species, ranging from northern Mexico through Central America and the West 

 Indies to Bolivia and northern Argentina. They belong to a group of three 

 genera in which there is no tufted oil-gland and the tail is short or of moderate 

 length, in this particular genus the tail being moderate and rounded, while the 

 under tail-coverts are always green in color. They are all essentially gregarious, 

 forest-haunting birds, generally of a tame and confiding disposition, and making 

 excellent and highly prized pets, especially if taken from the nest when young; 

 they may be taught to utter words very distinctly, as well as to sing and whistle 

 tunes. Humboldt mentions a venerable bird which he met with in South America 

 and " which remained the sole possessor of a literally dead language, the whole 

 tribe of Indians which spoke it having become extinct." They feed upon the 



