PSITTACA CALITA. 



part a waved or scaly appearance ; the grey is shaded into bright yel- 

 lowish-green on the vent and under tail-coverts. The hinder part of the 

 auriculars, the upper parts, with the exception of the back of the neck, are 

 rich green, brighter on the rump ; back of the neck greenish-grey, forming 

 an indistinct nuchal band ; the quills and secondaries are azure-blue, with 

 pale edges, and darker on the inner webs ; the upper side of the tail is 

 blue, underneath, along the shaft of the feathers, also blue, changing to 

 yellowish-green at the tips and edges ; the bill is flesh-colour ; the feet 

 and legs dull blue. 



" They are called," says Dr Gillies, " in the country by the name of 

 Calita, and, from their being frequent near one of the post-houses in the 

 province of Mendoza, that place is denominated Las Calitas, or the Parra- 

 keets. This place, about ninety miles to the eastward of Mendoza, forms 

 nearly the western boundary at which these birds are found, and they are 

 not unfrequently met with as far eastward as the Rio Quarto, or fourth 

 river in the province of Cordova, distant from Las Calitas about 350 miles. 

 The level of the country which they inhabit varies from 2000 to 3000 feet 

 above the sea. I am possessed of no information which enables me to 

 judge of their limits from north to south. They are said to form their 

 nests in holes along the banks of rivers, which, if correct, may account for 

 their being most frequently met with in places not far distant from the 

 following rivers, Rio del Tennyan, Rio Quinto, and Rio Quarto. From 

 what I could learn, they have from five to six young in a brood, and are ge- 

 nerally fledged in September. The inhabitants are in the practice of taking 

 them when young from their nests, and keeping them in small hide cages, 

 each with three or four holes large enough to allow them to put out their 

 heads. They feed them with grain, sometimes even with beef, when they 

 soon become domesticated, and an occasional clipping of the wings pre- 

 vents them being lost. These leather cages, frequently containing a whole 

 brood, who have scarcely room to move or turn about in them, are sold to 

 travellers, being in this form very portable. I cannot speak with precision 

 as to their food in a wild state ; but, judging from the vegetation in those 

 districts where they are most abundant, I would presume it to be the most 

 prevailing fruits, such as several species of Prosopis, Acacia, Mimosa, Ly- 

 cium, &c. In a domestic state, I generally fed them with bread soaked in 

 water, until my return to England, since which they have had also hemp 

 seed, or soaked biscuit and sugar. They are very fond of sugar, but relish 

 nothing more than to pick the bone of a chicken or any other fowl." 



" In a wild state, they are seen in flocks, and when domesticated, ap- 



