Parrots. 427 



Cockatoo of New Guinea {Microglossa aterrimd) were published at Amsterdam, whilst up 

 to the present day this bird is so rare that a live specimen sells in London at from ^15 

 to £2^. 



In 1747 to 1764 "A Natural History of Uncommon Birds," by Edwards, was published in 

 London, which depicted 37 species of Parrots; Brisson's " Ornithologia," published 1760, 

 more than doubled the number of known Parrots ; and Latham's " General Synopsis of 

 Birds" (1781) added 45 new Parrots to those described by the former author, 25 of 

 these new species being Parrots from Australia and the South Sea Islands. Buffon's 

 "Natural History of Birds" (Paris, 1783) contains drawings of 82 species of Parrots. 

 Shaw, in the "Zoology of New Holland" (1794), first mentions the Undulated Parrakeet, or 

 Budgerigar, of which many thousands are now imported annually into Europe. In the 

 beginning of this century about 120 varieties of Parrots were known. Wagler's work on 

 Parrots, published in Munich, 1832, contained a description of nearly 200 varieties of the 

 Parrot family, which number had grown to 350 by 1867, when Dr. Finsch published his 

 exhaustive monograph on Parrots. Of these 350 Parrots, 142 species are indigenous to 

 America, 23 to Africa, 18 to Asia and Sunda Islands, 83 to the Moluccas, 59 to 

 Australia, and 29 to Polynesia. Not a single species of Parrot is, or ever has been, 

 indigenous to Europe. In view of the distribution of Parrots over the warm and 

 temperate zones of all the rest of the world, the absence of Parrots from Europe is curious. 

 The climate alone cannot be the cause, for we find in North America the Carolina 

 Parrakeet as far north as 43° northern latitude, and in Polynesia we find the New Zealand 

 Parrakeet as far south as 55° southern latitude. On the Himalayas, Parrots are found 4,000 

 feet above sea-level, and on the Andes close to the snow region. It is abundantly proved 

 that very many Parrots would thrive perfectly well in our climate. Some years since, the 

 owner of an estate in England practically tried to acclimatise Parrots by turning out a number 

 of Cockatoos and other, mostly Australian Parrots. The experiment succeeded beyond expec- 

 tation, as far as the climate was concerned ; but it seems few men with a gun in their 

 hands can see a strange bird without shooting it, and the expensive Parrots let loose by an 

 enthusiastic ornithologist were all wantonly shot. 



In size the Parrots vary from that of a Linnet to that of the well-known Macaw and 

 large Cockatoo. Their intelligence and docility vary as much as their size. The best talkers 

 are the African Grey Parrots, and next to them the Brazilian Amazons, the Cockatoo from 

 the Moluccas, and the Indian Ring-necked Parrakeet. Australian Parrots do not as readily 

 learn to talk, but please the eye by their brilliant plumage. 



No other birds become so entirely domesticated and so much attached to their keepers as 

 Parrots, and none are so long-lived. But many Parrots utter distracting screams, which may 

 become quite unbearable. It is well to know, however, that most Parrots only scream from 

 fear, and quite forget this bad habit when they become thoroughly tame. Their powerful 

 beaks render Parrots very destructive, and their keeper should therefore provide the strongest 

 possible cages. Experience shows that the larger Parrots, and especially the tame ones, thrive 

 best when kept singly in cages. Tame Parrots are extremely jealous, and to place these in 

 an aviary will cause them often to pine, or to become exceedingly quarrelsome ; in the latter 

 case they will inflict fearful injury on each other. Almost all Parrots possess very much 

 individuality, and form strong attachments and equally strong antipathies. 



The limits of space at my disposal will oblige me to be much shorter than I had intended 

 to be in my remarks on the various species of Parrots. 



