170 PAL.EORNIS EUPATRIUS. 



south it is not nearly so common as P. torquatus. In Cliota Nagpur it is, according to Mr. Ball, by no 

 means universally distributed, but in the Rajmahal hills is much more common. Mr. Fairbank does not 

 record it from Khandala, and in northern Guzerat it is rare. In the sub-Himalayan region it is common as 

 the P. sivalensis of Hutton, and in Burmah exists as the large-billed race P. magnirostris , which extends 

 through Tenasserim to the islands of the Bay of Bengal. 



Habits. — Large colonies of this species take up their abode in districts where cocoanut cultivation borders 

 on forest and wild jungle, which afford an abundance of fruit-bearing trees, on the berries of which the 

 Alexandrine Parrakeet subsists. It is also found in openly timbered country and in forest. It roosts in 

 considerable numbers in cocoanut-groves, often close to a village, pouring in about half an hour before sunset 

 in small swiftly flying parties from all directions, which, as their numbers increase towards the time for 

 roosting, create a deafening noise in the excitement of choosing or finding their accustomed quarters. The 

 fronds of the cocoanut afford them a favourite perch, on which they sleep huddled together in rows. At 

 daybreak the vast crowd is again astir, and after much ado, flying from tree to tree with incessant screaming, 

 small parties start off for their feeding-grounds, flying low, just above the trees, and every now 

 and then uttering their full and loud note ke-aar; this sound is more long-drawn and not so shrill as that 

 of the smaller bird, and can be heard at a great distance. Isolated birds have a habit of apparently leaving 

 the rest of the flock and roaming off at a great height in the air, every now and then giving out a loud 

 scream, which often attracts the attention of the traveller or sportsman for some little time before he is aware 

 of the position of the Parrakeet, which is flying swiftly on far above his head. It is a shier bird than its 

 smaller congener, and rather difficult of approach when not engaged in feeding or in the business of settling 

 down for the night ; at the latter time numbers may be shot without their companions doing more than flying 

 out of, and directly returning to, their chosen trees. In the forests of the south-eastern part of the island 

 I observed these Parrakeets resorting at evening to dead and sparsely foliaged trees, the bare branches of 

 which afford them a simdar perch to that of the palm-frond. 



They feed on grain as well as on the fruits and berries of forest-trees ; and I on one occasion captured a 

 fine specimen which had become entanged in a species of vetch which covered the earthy portions of a rocky 

 islet near Pigeon Island ; it had been feeding on the seeds of the plant, and while extracting them from the 

 pod had got beneath the tangled mass and was unable to extricate itself again. In confinement this species 

 is possessed of the usual docility peculiar to the Parrot order, and is a very favourite pet in Ceylon with 

 both Europeans and natives; I do not think it is as often taught to imitate the human voice as the next 

 species, but I have heard it occasionally speak native words with a fair amount of distinctness. Indian 

 writers say that it is taught with facility to speak ; but I think that as a general rule in Ceylon it is 

 kept more as an ornament than for its powers of talking, and when newly feathered, with its tail in perfect 

 order, is a very handsome bird. 



Nidijication. — Layard writes that he was informed by natives that this bird laid two eggs, building, 

 of course, as all Parrakeets, in a hollow tree. It excavates the hole in which it breeds, generally choosing 

 a small limb, of which the hard shell to be cut through before reaching the interior cavity is not very 

 thick. I have never succeeded in getting the eggs, and therefore can state nothing certain concerning their 

 size. Mr. Hume gives the dimensions of one belonging to the Northern-Indian form, P. sivalensis, as E52 

 by 0"95 inch, a very unusual shape for the egg of a Parrakeet, which is generally round. Mr. Rainey writes in 

 ' Stray Feathers/ concerning the breeding of the Rose-band Parrakeet in the Sunderbunds, that " they build 

 their nests in the hollows " — of trees with light wood — " first scooping them down perpendicularly some two 

 and a half feet, so that it requires a long arm to be able to remove the nestlings within .... The eggs are 

 usually two or three and sometimes four in number, and are deposited in the end of the hollows, the scrapings 

 of the wood being gathered below to form a soft bed for them and the young when hatched." 



