1850.] Conspectus of Indian Ornithology. 231 



Chandand (' Sandal-wood coloured,' alluding to the yellowish 

 tinge of the under parts and upper portion of the back), 

 Beng. : Karan sugd and Kararia of Nepal (Hodgson) : 

 Rde Tota (< Royal Parrakeet'), Hind. (Jerdon) : Kyai 

 Phoungka, Arakan (Phayre). 

 Hab. Hilly regions of all India proper, from the sub-Himalayas 

 to Ceylon inclusive ; Asam ; Sylhet ; Arakan ; Tenasserim provinces, 



2. P. torgiuatus (Daubenton's PI. Enl. 551). 

 Syn. Psittaca torquata, Brisson. 



Psittacus Alexandri, var. B, Latham.* 



Ps. cubicularis, Hasselquist. 



Ps. docilis, Vieillot. 



Ps. steptophorus, Desmarest. 



Var. Sulphur Parrakeet, Shaw. 



Tiyd (or Teeyd, imitative of voice), Hind. : Tent'hia 

 Suga, Nepal (Hodgson) : Gallar of some, H. : Lyhar, 

 Masuri (Hutton) : Lyhar Totd, S. India (Jerdon) : 

 Kyai-gyot, Arakan (Phayre). 

 Hab. Plains of India ; Ceylon ; Asam ; Sylhet ; Arakan ; Te- 

 nasserim provinces ; Malayan peninsula (to latitude of Penang) : W. 

 Africa (apud Swainson), smaller variety.f 



In general, the Psittacidoe are exclusively vegetable-feeders, as much so as the 

 Columbida : but the Calyptorhynchi are described to cut up decaying trees, by 

 means of their extremely powerful beaks, to get at the larvae in the interior of the 

 wood ; and the Loriinae (at least in confinement) will eat soft maggots. This 

 general diet of the group helps to bear out the analogy which the Psittacida 

 among birds bear to the Quadrumana among mammalia (though it is true that 

 many of the Quadrumana are, in the wild state, far more omnivorous than is ge- 

 nerally supposed). In their whole structure, the Psittacidce manifest no parti- 

 cular affinity (that we can discern) for any of the zygodactyle Insessores ; but 

 they decidedly constitute a very distinct ordinal type, shewing most relations with 

 the diurnal Raptores : and regarding them as the most highly organized of birds, 

 we do not hesitate to follow the arrangement of those zoologists who place them at 

 the head of the class, parallel to the Apes and Monkeys among the mammalia. 



* Except that there is no patch of crimson on the wing-coverts of Ps. torquatus. 



f " The Rose-ringed Parrakeet," writes Mr. Swainson, " is one of the few birds 

 of Senegal whose geographic distribution extends from east to west. Of four spe- 

 cimens in very perfect plumage now before us, three are from Western Africa and 



2 h 2 



