93 



fgTNG CARROT, OR fjARRAKEET. 



Psittacus cyanopygus, 'Buss. 



Synonyms: Asprosmictus scapulatus, G-ld.; Psittacus scapulatus, Khl.; 



Platycercus sca/pulatus, Vgks.; Platycercus cyanopygus, Fnsch.; etc. 



Geeman: Der Konigs-Sittich. 



THIS Parrot is very generally, but erroneously, called the King 

 Lory, for it undoubtedly belongs to the Platycerci, and not to 

 the Lories: it is a large handsome bird, slightly exceeding the well- 

 known Grey Parrot in size, and with a very much longer tail: the 

 head, neck, and all the under surface of the body, including the under 

 tail coverts, are deep red, while the back and wings are dark green, 

 growing deeper and deeper in shade to the tail, which is nearly black; 

 the under surface of the tail feathers is black; the rump is blue, and 

 the wings are marked with a spot of very light green. The feet are 

 leaden grey, the upper mandible is orange red, with a black tip, and 

 the lower black above, and below a dark slate grey. 



The female, or Queen, is such a totally different-looking bird, that 

 she was formerly considered by naturalists to belong to a different 

 species. The general colour of her plumage is dingy green, with a 

 reddish shade on the breast, and a deeper tinge of the same colour 

 on the abdomen and the under tail coverts: the tail is not of such a 

 deep blue black green as in the male, and she is a trifle smaller than 

 her mate. 



• The young resemble their mother until their second year, when the 

 males begin to assume the adult plumage. We have met with no 

 published record of these handsome birds breeding in this country, 

 but we have been assured than an amateur in an eastern county has 

 succeeded more than once in obtaining a brood: and his mode of 

 procedure was one so well calculated to ensure success, that our 

 readers will doubtless be grateful to us for detailing the modus operandi 



