56 



Birds of Burma. 



[No. 1, 



I 



the place of P. eosa (Boddaert) of India generally and Ceylon. In Mpal 

 both species occur, but the present one only (if I mistake not) in Lower 

 "Bengal, and its range extends eastward to the south of China. There are 

 various distinctions, one of which is that in P. eosa the wings are blue on 

 the inner side, while in P. cyakocephaltts they are green within. P. eosa 

 is also a much more finely coloured bird than the other, and has a con- 

 spicuously longer tail. 



[Eangoon, Karen hills, Tonghoo {W. i?.). Linnseus's title of Psit- 

 iacus cyanocephalus, founded on Brisson's Psittaca cyanocephala (Orn. iv. 

 p. 359, no. 70, pi. xix. f. 2, "East Indies"), applies to this race. "While 

 Psittacus purpureus, P. L. S. Miiller (Suppl. p. 74, no. 6, d.) y founded 

 on the Perruohe d tete rouge de Gingi (Daubent. PL Enl. 264), Psittaca 

 gingiana erythrocephala, Briss. (t.c. p. 346, no. 65, pi. 29, f. 2, "royaume 

 de Gingi"), as shown by the late Mr. Cassin, ten years ago (P. Ac. !N". 

 Sc. Philadelphia, 1864, p. 239), must take precedence of Gmelin's title of 

 Psittacus erythrocephalus (S. H". i. p. 325, No. 74 ex Briss.). Mr. Gr. E. Gray 

 (H. List, ii. No. 8054), who followed Cassin, adopted P. L. S. Muller ? s title, 

 and retained it, rather vaguely, for the species inhabiting " India and 

 Ceylon," while restricting Gmelin's title of lengalensis to the Nipalese form. 

 Curiously enough, Mr. Gray wrongly associated P. L. S. Mullens title of 

 purpureus with Daubenton's plate, No. 888, on which Boddaert founded his 

 title of Psittacus rosa (Table, p. 53). There does not appear to be conclusive 

 proof of both species occurring in Nipal, but conf. Jerdon, in Ibis (1872, p. 6, 

 No. 149). The title of Psittacus rosa, Boddaert, strictly pertains to the 

 Bengal form.] 



5. *P. vibeisca (J. 152). 



Psittacus poniicerianus, Gmelin ; P. alexandri (L.), apud Finsch, Die Papageien^ torn. 

 Ii. p. 59 ; P. modestus y Fraser, the young. 



An exceedingly common species in the forests of British Burma, and 

 Mason remarks of it (in particular) that " immense flocks of Parrakeets may 

 be seen simultaneously descending on the rice-fields, where persons have to 

 be in constant attendance to drive them away during the season of harvest;" 

 while of P. TOEQUATTJS he notices that it is " often seen in the rice-fields, but 

 in smaller companies, which have not the habit of simultaneous descent." 

 Westward, the present species is common in the Terai region of the E. 

 Himalaya, but its range does not extend further into India, whence its 

 synonym of ponticerianus is a misnomer. Great numbers of the very young 

 are brought every season to Calcutta from Chittagong, and it is remarkable 



