PALCEORNIS MALACCENSIS. 



Malacca Parrakeet. 



Psittacus longicauda, Bodd. Tabl. des PI. Enl. Daub., p. 53. 



Palceornis longicauda, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 410, Palceornis, sp. 10. — Horsf. Cat. of Birds in 



Mus. East Ind. Comp., vol. ii. p. 618. 

 Psittacus Malaccensis, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 325. 



Le Grand Perruche d longs brins de Malac, Buff. Hist, des Ois., torn. vi. p. 155. — PI. Enl. 887. 

 La Perruche d nuque etjoues rouges, LeVaill. Hist, des Perr., pi. 72. — Bourj. St. Hil. Coll. des Perr., pi. 1. 

 Belurus malaccensis, Bonap. Rev. Zool. 1854, p. 152. — De Souance, Rev. Zool. 1856, p. 208. 

 Palceornis malaccensis, Vig. Zool. Journ., vol. ii. p. 52. — Selby in Jard. Nat. Lib. Parrots, p. 75. pi. 3.— Blyth, 



Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xi. p. 788, and xix. p. 233.— lb. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat. Soc. Beng., 



p. 5.— Mottl. and Dill. Nat. Hist, of Lab., p. 26. 

 Psittacus erubescens, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 437.— Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. xiii. p. 231. 



ginginianus, var. C, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 99.— lb. Gen. Hist, of Birds, vol. ii. p. 165. 



barbatulatus, Bechst. 



Conurus barbatulatus, Kuhl, Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., No. 38, 



Belocercus barbatulatus, Mull, et Schleg. 



Palaornis erythrogenys, Less. Traite d'Orn., p. 215. 



Malacca Parrakeet, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i. p. 241. no. 39 C, and Supp., p. 60. 



Blossom-cheeked Parrakeet, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 437. 



Psittacus erythrocephalus, var. 8. malaccensis, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 325. 



Burong Bayau, Sumatrans (Raffles). 



Madna Bhola of the Calcutta Bird- dealers (Blyth). 



As its specific name implies, this truly elegant species is a native of Malacca ; it also occurs in Sumatra, 

 Borneo, and Labuan, but I have never yet seen it from Java. 



Sir Stamford Raffles states that " it is this Parrot that figures in the fables and poetry of the Malays, in 

 which it is represented to be endowed with a supernatural degree of intelligence." 



Messrs. Mottley and Dillwyn inform us in their " Natural History of Labuan," that " these handsome 

 Parrakeets are not uncommon, and are to be seen in the early morning flying about above the tops of the 

 trees in small flocks of six or eight, uttering in their flight a loud quick scream, very much like the note of 

 the Common Swift. They are particularly fond of the fruit of the Dryabalanops Camphora, which they split 

 open, and eat the curious crumpled cotyledons, in spite of their pungent taste and smell of turpentine. A 

 specimen was shot while feeding upon the seeds of Dillenia speciosa, a shrub about ten or fifteen feet hio-h ; 

 and it is the only instance in which we have known them venture so near the ground. When first seen, he 

 was busy opening the capsules of the plant, and scraping out the seeds with his beak, never omitting to clip 

 off at a single bite every one he emptied ; having done this, he dropped himself under the twig he sat on, 

 swinging by one leg to watch its fall ; when it reached the ground he testified his satisfaction by a low chirp, 

 and giving himself a vigorous swing, caught the perch with his other foot, and walked gravely along to 

 another capsule, not hopping, but placing one foot before the other in a most old-fashioned way. Another 

 of these Parrakeets, which had been pinioned by a shot without being otherwise injured, was placed in a 

 cage, where, soon finding his two long tail-feathers to be an incumbrance, he deliberately turned round, 

 pulled them out, and then walked round the cage, evidently to try the effect of his contrivance." 



So far as I am aware, no difference occurs in the colouring of the sexes ; but Mr. Moore has given 

 the following description of what he considers the youthful plumage : — 



" The young has the plumage yellowish green, darkest on the crown and sides of the throat, and palest 

 beneath ; wings above the same, and having the primaries, secondaries, a portion of the tertiaries and 

 speculars bluish on their outer webs, and the three former narrowly edged with yellowish ; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries green ; rump more bluish green, and upper tail-coverts bright yellowish green ; tail 

 bluish green, edged with yellowish green, the latter beneath dingy yellowish green ; before the eye, slightly 

 above, and broadly beneath, ferruginous, intermixed with greenish yellow; upper mandible red, tip and under 

 one also pale." 



In the adult the crown of the head is bright grass-green ; face, sides of the head, and sides and back of 

 the neck fine deep red, suffused with a vinous bloom ; moustache jet-black ; back yellowish green, suffused 

 with delicate blue ; lower part of the back verditer-blue ; upper tail-coverts green ; wings green, washed 

 with orange on the centre ; primaries deep bluish green, with a tinge of yellow on the margin and blackish 

 brown inner webs ; under surface pale greenish yellow ; sides of the body and under wing-coverts wax- 

 yellow ; centre tail-feathers blue ; lateral tail-feathers grass-green ; bill red, paler at the tip. 



The bird is represented on the accompanying Plate of the size of life. 



