336 Notes on the Tarroquets of India. 



some exhibit a rather savage propensity for biting- one's fingers ; 

 as they grovv up and become familiarised to confinement_, they 

 will even take a piece of sugar from between their feeder's lips j 

 this is a trait worth noting, because, according to Bennett, it is 

 not characteristic of the Ceylon bird, which he says is " not easi- 

 ly domesticated." This, however, is always greatly dependent upon 

 the mode of training, many persons apparently believing that 

 animals were created solely for the purpose of being tormented. 

 The nestling bird at two months old has the bill lai-ge, power- 

 ful, and massive, especially in the male, and of a coral red, in- 

 clining to dusky at the base above -, there is an incipient dusky 

 somewhat bristly narrow line from the eye to the nostril, but by 

 no means approaching to black, while in some,, there is no trace 

 of it at all, A large elongated purplish red patch near the 

 bend of the wing in both sexes even from the nest ; in some, 

 but not in all, there is a dusky indication of what at a later 

 period will become the black demi-collar on the side of the neck ; 

 these are males. The sexes can be distinguished by a practised 

 eye by the size and shape of the head ; in the male, the fore- 

 head from the base of the bill backward to just behind the eyes 

 is well arched, but thence passes back to the nape, flattened and 

 straight, giving the head an elongated appearance ; whereas in 

 the female the head is both smaller, and well arched, from the 

 base of the bill to the nape. There is likewise a marked dif- 

 ference in the form and massiveness of the beak ; in the male it 

 is wider along the culmen, and well rounded out on the sides ; in 

 the female it is flatter on the sides, that is to say, more com- 

 pressed, and the culmen is consequently sharper; the lower 

 mandible is punt-shaped in both sexes. At first the pupil of 

 the eye is entirely black without any iris, but when about two 

 months old^ a pale ashy white iris begins to appear. Grradually 

 from this time the white iris becomes more and more apparent, 

 and is encircled by a faint narrow bluish outer border, and the 

 edge of the eyelids granular and reddish. The feet are of a dull 

 greyish leaden hue. Adult male, with forehead bright light 

 green; sides of the head, nape, breast, belly, upper part of 

 back dull ashy green ; wings dark green, with an elongated 

 dull purplish red streak rising near the bend of the wing • 

 lower back, rump, tail coverts, and base of the tail above, bright 

 green ; the two centre feathers very long and tapering ; bluish 

 green above, but fading into dull yellow at the ends ; second 

 pair, green at base, passing into bright yellow; the rest yellow, 

 and all of them bright yellow beneath ; a well defined black 

 demi-collar rising at the edge of the upper mandible and widen- 

 ing at the base of the lower mandible, where it turns round to 



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