175


CONURES.


By O. E. CRESSWI3LL.


I do not for a moment pretend to have any wide knowledge

of Conures ; but what experience I have is far more favourable

to the genus than that of Mr. Button. I have had but four, and

have them all now, for Conures are extremely hardy and I fancy

long-lived, and I never tire of any feathered pets. Before I come

to them I would say of the Conurus hdezis (a) or " Queen of

Bavaria's " Parrakeet that the only specimen I have seen, a very

splendid one, in the Parisian Jardin d'acclimatation, was richer

and deeper in hue than the pretty illustration in " Parrots in

Captivity." I believe I described its colour in my account of

the said garden as being the richest amber. No doubt the depth

of colour depends on the bird's age.


The first of my Conures, which I have had towards six

years, is a Patagonian. He came to me from Mr. Abrahams'

establishment with the character of a " tame and talking bird." It

was a long while before he talked here, but when he once began

he rapidly improved, learnt more words and sounds, and his utter-

ance of them is the clearest I have ever heard from any Parrot ;

he is very clever, indeed cunning, and unfortunately will never

talk or do anything to order. He knows perfectly when one

wishes to show him off, and is immediately silent. He spends

much of his time in a verandah near the hall door, and I have

known him often persistently silent when visitors were looking

at him and other birds, and before their carriage had gone half-

a-minute he was jabbering absurdly. He is a great respecter of

persons, perfectly quiet when well-dressed people call, but makes

an appalling noise if disagreeable-looking tramps arrive, and

never stops shrieking till somebody he knows comes out, and

then he is instantly silent- He knows everybody on the premises,

but if a new gardener or groom arrives he summons us on their

first, and probably their second, appearance ; then he understands

that they are to be tolerated. He is never disagreeably noisy,

unless he thinks something is wrong. He imitates a hen which

has laid an egg, perfectly ; with voice and beak against the bars

he catches exactly the various sounds of sawing wood ; for one

boy he would dance absurdly, and is suspected of mocking a

maid whom he sees resting her head upon her hand by a window.

Certainly he puts up his foot, and rests his head sideways upon


(a) Conurus ^'-uitfouda Of the Cat. B. Brit. Mus. — D. S.-S.



