PAL^OENIS TOKQUATWS. 



(THE ROSE-RINGED PARKAKEET.) 



Psittacus torquatus, Bodd. Tabl. PI. Enl. p. 32 (1783). 



Psittaca torquata, Brisson, Orn. iv. p. 323 (1760). 



Psittacus alexandri, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 141 (1760). 



Palceornis torguatus, Vig. Zool. Journ. ii. p. 50 (1825); Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 96; Jerd. 



Cat. B. S. India, Madr. Journ. 1840, xi. p. 207; Blyth, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1840, xii. 



p. 90 ; id. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 4 (1849) ; Gray, Cat. Mamm. &c. Nepal Coll. Hodgs. 



p. 113 (1846); Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 127(1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. 



Hist. 1854, xiii. p. 262 ; Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. ii. p. 611 (1856) ; 



Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 257 (1862); Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 425; Hume, Str. 



Feath. 1873, p. 170 ; id. Nests and Eggs, Eough Draft, p. 116 (1873); Ball, Str. Feath. 



1874, p. 389 ; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 14, et 1875, p. 282 ; Butler, Str. Feath. 1875, p. 457. 

 La Perruche a collier, Buffon, PI. Enl. p. 551 ; Alexandrine Parrakeet, Latham ; La Perruche 



a collier rose, Buffon, Hist. Oiseaux ; The Pose-collared Parrakeet, Kelaart ; Mango Parrot 



in India ; Small Green Parrot and Ping-necked Parrakeet, Europeans in Ceylon. 

 Tii/a, Bengal ; Gallar, Hind, in N.W. Provinces ; Tenthia suga, Nepal ; Lyhar, Mussooree ; 



Eagoo and Kerali, Mahrattas ; Lybar tota, Hind. Shikarees in South ; Chilluka, Telegu ; 



Killi, Tamil ; Teea-tota, natives of Maunbhoom. 

 Sana girawa, Sinhalese. 



Adult male. Length to front of cere 13-5 to 16-1 inches : culmen 1-1 ; total length of the latter 1-72; wing 6-0 to 6-6 ; 

 tail 8*2 to 9-8 ; tarsus 0-5 ; outer anterior toe 0-95, claw (straight) 0-38 ; greatest height of upper mandible - 5. 

 Adults of this Parrakeet vary extraordinarily in size, evidently attaining the maximum dimensions when several 

 years old. The smaller of the above measurements, which are taken from a series of Ceylonese birds, are those of an 

 individual in fully adult dress. 



Iris yellowish white or white tinged faintly with yellow : bill, upper mandible deep red, margin at gape and lower 

 mandible blackish ; legs and feet dusky bluish slate or greenish olivaceous, often with a brownish wash on the 

 tarsus. 



Above and beneath grass-green, with a greyish wash on the hind neck and chest, and the lower parts more delicate 

 than the back ; a well-defined blackish streak from nostril to eye ; a black mandibular stripe, meeting on the 

 gorge, and curving round as in the last to meet a collar of pale red on the hind neck (the black and red overlap 

 more than in the last species) ; occiput and hind neck above the collar with the upper edge of the black stripe at 

 the cheek washed with delicate azure-blue ; inner webs of quills brown, with a fine yellowish edging to both webs : 

 the central rectrices and outer webs of next pair are blue, fading towards the base to green ; the rest green, washed 

 on the inner webs with yellowish ; tips and under surface of all the feathers yellowish ; under wing yellowish 

 green ; tertiary under-coverts yellow. 



Female. Total length about 16'0 inches; wing 6-0. Soft parts as in male. 



Similar in plumage, but wants the black stripe and rose collar, in place of which latter it has a narrow emerald-green 

 band across the hind neck. 



Young. The nestling is similar to the female, and males attain in the first year a size quite equal to adults of the 

 other sex. There is a dusky indication of the black stripe, and on obtaining the dress of maturity the feathers 

 above the green collar become edged with rose, and a narrow edging of black begins to appear where the broad 

 black stripe eventually is put on. At the same time the hind neck becomes tinged with azure-blue. 



Obs. Ceylonese examples of this Parrakeet average smaller than Indian. I have not met with a male which exceeded 



z2 



