The Great-billed Touraco.



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New Zealand PARRAKEET {Gyanorhampus novce-zealandice).

A gentle and beautiful bird, now hardly ever imported. It should

be treated like an ordinary Broadtail, but should not be exposed

to too much cold.


Pyrrhulopsis Parrakeets. —A small genus of large,

brilliant Parrakeets, all of which are rare in captivity. They should

be fed and treated like the Aprosmicti and a large supply of fruit is

indispensable to their health. The sexes are much alike in colour.

The Masked, Tabuan, and shining Parrakeets are the best known if

not the only members of the genus, the two latter being much alike,

but while the Tabuan Parrakeet has a maroon head and breast, in

the Eed-shining Parrakeet the maroon is replaced by bright crimson.



THE GREAT-BILLED TOURACO.


By Graham Renshaw, M.D., F.R.S.E.


It is unfortunate that the handsome birds known as Touracos

or Plantain-eaters are but little known to aviculture : for, although

somewhat delicate in confinement, their curious ways and quaint

yet lovely plumage render them eminently desirable as pets. Im¬

ported at long and irregular intervals, the total number arriving

in a year can be reckoned on the fingers of one hand : even the

commonest are rarities, though several species have been shown

from time to time at the Zoo.


The writer has in his possession a Great-billed Touraco

(Turacus macrorhynchus). This fine species has the head, throat

and chest dark shining green, the wings are crimson, mantle and

tail violet. The stout beak is yellow anteriorly, but the upper

mandible has a crimson spot immediately in front of the nostril,

and the posterior two-thirds of the lower mandible are almost

entirely crimson. The feathers of the head are produced into a

crest, and this is faintly tipped with white, as if a paint-brush

had been lightly passed along it: a smart white streak also runs

below and behind the eye. The eyelids are bright crimson, the

legs and feet black. This charming and harmonious colour-pattern

is well adapted to conceal an arboreal, forest-haunting bird such as



