PAL^OKNIS CYANOCEPHALUS. 



(THE BLOSSOM-HEADED PARRAKEET.) 



Psittacus eyanocephalus, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 141 (17G6). 



Psittaca bengalensis, Brisson, Orn. iv. p. 348 (1760) ; Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 325 (1786). 



Psittacus indicus, Lath. Ind. Orn. i. p. 86 (1790). 



Paloeornis eyanocephalus, Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 5 (1849); Kelaart, Prodromus, 



Cat. p. 127 (1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiii. p. 264; Horsf. & 



Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. ii. p. 616 (1856). 

 Paloeornis rosa, Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 259, et Ibis, 1872, p. 6 ; Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, 



p. 425; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 14; Gould, B. of Asia, pt. xxvi. (1874); Legge, Ibis, 



1875, p. 282. 

 Paloeornis bengalensis, Jerdon, Cat. B. S. India, Madr. Journ. 1840, xi. p. 208. 

 Paloeornis purpureus, Hume, Nests and Eggs (Rough Draft), p. 116 (1873); Hume, Str. 



Feath. 1873, p. 433; Ball, Str. Feath. 1874, p. 390; Brooks, ibid. 1875, p. 232; 



Butler, ibid. p. 457. 

 La Perruche a, tete bleue, Brisson, Orn. iv. p. 359, pi. 19. fig. 2 ; Blossom-headed ParraJceet, 



Latham, and Gould, Birds of Asia ; Pose-headed ParraJceet, The Ashy-headed ParraJceet 



(Kelaart). 

 Faraida, lit. " the plaintive or complainer," Beng. ; Tm'-snga, Nepalese ; Tiua-tota, Hind, in 



the south ; Bengali-tota, in the Punjaub ; Rama-chilluka, Telegu. 

 Battoo giravca, Malitchia, Sinhalese ; Killi, Ceylonese Tamils. 



.{'hdt male. Length to front of cere 12-0 to 13 - 6 inches ; culmen OS ; total length varying from 13-0 to 14 - ; wing 

 .VI to 5-25 ; tail 7 - ; tarsus 0*5 ; outer anterior toe and claw 1-0 ; depth of upper mandible at cere 0-37. 



J ris white, pale yellowish white, or greenish white, with a dusky or greyish inner circle, which latter is divided some- 

 times from the pupil by a whitish ring ; cere olivaceous green ; eyelid olive-brown ; bill, upper mandible orange- 

 yellow, variable in depth of hue, and in some with a dusky tip, lower mandible black or blackish brown*; legs and 

 feet dusky sap-green, claws plumbeous with dusky tips. 



Head, face, and nape covered by a cap of flame- or rose-red, which is bounded beneath by a narrow black collar and 

 overlaid gradually from the crown and cheeks downwards with delicate blue ; the black collar is concealed by the 

 overlying cap on the hind neck and widens below the cheeks, passing up by the base of the bill to the gape ; 

 below this collar the neck is encircled with verdigris-green, varying in extent, and passing into the yellowish 

 green of the back and scapulars ; wings, rump, and upper tail-coverts verditer-green, brightest on the latter 

 parts ; quills brown internally and with a fine yellow outer margin ; a dark red spot on the median wing-coverts ; 

 middle pair of tail-feathers blue, washed with green at the base, and with deep white tips, the rest green with the 

 tips yellowish and bases of inner webs rich yellow ; beneath yellowish green, more verdant on the lower parts 

 and under tail-coverts : axillaries and under wing-coverts pale emerald-green. 



Individuals vary in the hue of the rump and the depth of the white tail extremities ; and many that have attained the 

 adult cap, but have not arrived at the full age of maturity t, have a greenish-yellow semi-collar below the green 

 ring, and a more yellowish hue on the back, tertials, and under surface. 



" Like other Parrakeets this species usually has the bill so discoloured that it is difficult to tell what its colour 

 really is. 



t 'this is difficult to define, for, as Capt. Hutton remarks from observation of caged birds (Str. Feath. vol. i. 

 ji. 314), each subsequent year after the third "only adds to the richness of colouring." 



