141 



#ENNANT'S € 



„ ENNANT'S fjARRAKEET. 



Psittacus Pennanti, Lthm., Euss. 



Synonyms: Platycercus Pennanti, Yges.; Psittacus gloriosus, Shw.; 



Psittacus splendidus, GrR.; Psittacus elegans, Khl,; etc. 



German: PennanVs Sittich. 



PENNANT'S Parrakeet is a magnificent creature, applied to which 

 the epithets gloriosus and sjplendidus are scarcely an exaggeration. 



It was known to Bechstein, who named it after our countryman, the 

 well-known naturalist Pennant; but in the English translation of the 

 old German's works, it is called "the Purple Parrot/' Bechstein con- 

 sidered that "it very much resembles the Sparrow-Hawk", but was 

 in error in supposing that "in the female, which the bird-sellers pass 

 as a different species, under the name of the Palm Tree Parrot, the 

 prevailing colour is greenish yellow", for the sexes are identical in 

 appearance, and can scarcely be accurately differentiated except by 

 internal, and, consequently, post-mortem examination: an experienced 

 eye, however, can generally manage to pick out a pair from among a 

 number of these birds after watching them a short time, for they fre- 

 quently caress each other; but it is extremely difficult to determine 

 the sex of a given individual seen alone. 



The gorgeous colours of this splendid bird, which Mr. Wiener con- 

 siders, "if anything, too loud to please all tastes", are nevertheless 

 truly magnificent; and as the bird is of considerable size, they show 

 with greater effect than if it were of smaller dimensions. Frequently, 

 when traversing the Australian bush, we have been startled by the 

 sudden dash across our path of a flock of these brilliantly-plumaged 

 creatures, that shone in the bright rays of the sun like a flash of ruby 

 lightning, so thoroughly dazzling the eye, that to shoot them, as they 

 passed, we found to be impossible; for they are swift on the wing, 

 and dashing from the darkness of the timber on one side of the open 

 road, to the gloom of the gum trees on the other, they were gone 



