330 Timehri, 



shy bird and generally speaking will only be friendly to a few persons. It 

 is also more sober in disposition and has none of the pretty ways of the 

 Screecher. 



The Red- Back. 



A rarer bird still is the Red-back, (Amazona festive. — the Amazon of 

 festive attire). This bird is much smaller being only eleven inches in 

 length. It is a sage green with a crimson rump like the Red-back Mocking- 

 bird ; its forehead also is red. The primaries are purple and black but 

 the secondaries are a uniform cobalt green. The cheeks and throat are 

 marked with blue, the beak horn-yellow. I have not yet made its personal 

 appearance. I am told that it speaks distinctly and in a loud voice. 



The Saurama. 

 The Saurama Parrot is the largest of the Amazons. It is a rather 

 gaunt bird measuring from sixteen to seventeen inches in total length. 

 It is not in such request as the Screecher being slow, not to say dull and 

 uninteresting. It may be taught to speak a few words and this it does 

 distinctly, but the process requires time and patience. 



It may easily be distinguished from the rest of the group by the 

 broad circle of bare, white, skin around the eye, which, however, is not so 

 extensive as that of the African Grey. The uniform green of the body is 

 relieved by the line of purple-and-crimson of the wings and a yellow patch 

 of indefinite and variable shape on the crown of the head. The wing 

 feathers are the same as the Screecher except that the middle, outer, 

 webs of the secondaries are a beautiful crimson instead of orange. The 

 tail feathers, which are somewhat longer in proportion than those of other 

 Amazons are green, fading into a light colour, and the outer feathers have 

 sometimes an edging of light blue. The beak is horn-yellow, dark on the 

 margins ; the outer rim of the iris is red. The feathers of the nape and 

 upper back have often a bluish tinge. There are some light crimson 

 feathers on the bastird wing. I do not know why this Amazon should 

 be called fcrinosa, that is meaty except perhaps that it has, more than 

 the others, a tendency to become spotted with yellow. The alternate 

 generic name of Chrysotis, " golden,'" may reveal the same proclivity in 

 the family generally. The species, aestiva, not found in this Colony, is 

 sometimes seen in its wild state entirely yellow. Or it may be that in 

 this species the powder-down patches are more in evidence.* 



The Amazon of Amazons. 

 The King of all the Amazons is undoubtedly that species (Amazona 

 ochrocephala) which is the only one of the genus known in England 

 by the name of Amazon outside scientific circles. It is the Amazon par 

 excellence. 



Hardly inferior in size to the Saurama, it is handsomer in form and 

 feather and withal, very dignified in mien. He is no common dog that 



* Note. — In several classes of birds, including parrots, are patches of down beneath 

 the contour feathers which disintegrate into powder, forming, in some cases, a kind of 

 bloom upon the outer feathers. 



