PALiEOKNIS TOKQUATUS. 17 o 



of the large bird, and is much uttered in the mornings and evenings. It is noteworthy that caged specimens 

 in England always become noisy, even in the long summer evenings, about 5 or 6 o'clock, the exact time of 

 going to roost in their native country. 



Layard writes the following account of a large colony of these Parrakeets at Chilaw : — " Hearing of the 

 swarms which resorted to the spot, I posted myself on a bridge some half a mile away, and attempted to count 

 the flocks that came from one direction, eastward, over the jungle. About five o'clock in the afternoon strag- 

 gling bodies began to wing their way homeward, but many of them came back again to pick up the scattered 

 grains left on the fields near the village ; about half-past five, however, the tide fairly set in, and I soon found 

 I had no flocks to count — it was one living screaming stream : some high in the air winged their way till over 

 their homes, when, with a scream, they suddenly dived downwards with many evolutions until on a level with 

 the trees ; others flew along the ground rapidly and noiselessly, now darting under the pendent boughs of 

 some mango or solitary tree, now skimming over the bridge close to my face with the rapidity of thought, 

 their brilliant green plumage shining in the setting sunlight with a lovely lustre. 



" I waited at this spot till the evening closed in, and then took my gun and went to the cocoanut-tope 

 which covered the bazaar. I could hear, though from the darkness I could not distinguish, the birds fighting 

 for their perches ; and on firing a shot they rose with a noise like the rushing of a mighty wind, but soon 

 settled again, and such a din commenced as I shall never forget." 



This is the most commonly domesticated of the Ceylonese Parrakeets, and is a great favourite with 

 Europeans and natives ; it learns to talk well, and is very often brought home to England as a pet. 



Nidification. — This species breeds in holes in trees, often at a considerable height from the ground, and 

 lays four or five white eggs on the dead wood at the bottom of the cavity. The mouth of the hole is, 

 Mr. Hume remarks, very neatly cut, circular, and about 2 inches in diameter. The nesting-time is in March 

 and April ; and the hen bird is given to sitting very close, for Captain Butler writes that he had to push 

 one off her nest with his hand, and even then she would not leave the hole, although there were no less 

 than three entrances by which she might have escaped. The eggs, which are of course white, are devoid of 

 gloss, and are broad ovals in shape; they measure as the average size, according to Mr. Hume, 1:2 by 

 - 95 inch. 



