48 GREY PARROT. 



coloured fruit, masses of yellow flowers, lilac-coloured pajpilionacece-, 

 and mauve convolvuluses, beautiful scarlet seed-vessels of a certain 

 bean that form blazing clusters of gorgeous effect amid the tender 

 green foliage"; nor have we been happy enough to behold the "im- 

 mense numbers of Grey Parrots, small flocks of them going together 

 that flutter and play about the tops of the tall trees, whistling and 

 screaming joyously all the time", or been privileged to see "the many 

 snags that rear their withered branches over the rushing stream, 

 where numerous little birds have for safety's sake hung their pendant 

 nests of grass, so that there is a constant twittering and fluttering of 

 pretty and brilliant forms round the gnarled old trunks and whitened 

 twigs" — a lovely scene surely, and a description that inspires the reader 

 with a desire to start off forthwith and feast his eyes upon its un- 

 paralleled beauty. 



The following interesting particulars from the pen of Mr. J. G. 

 Keulemans will be read with interest: — "Of all the foreign cage-birds 

 that decorate and enliven our dwellings, few are more common or better 

 known than the Grey Parrot. Large numbers are being continually 

 brought to Europe from their native wilds, and at some places — Lisbon, 

 for instance — they may be seen in large numbers at the bird-shops, 

 but nowhere is the Grey Parrot more frequently found as a cage-bird 

 than in London. 



"The range of the Grey Parrot is limited to the Western Coast of 

 Africa, and extends for some distance into the interior. It is common 

 on the Gold Coast and adjacent islands; but is curiously distributed 

 among these latter. On Prince's Island we find these birds in great 

 abundance, while on the neighbouring island of St. Thomas not a Grey 

 Parrot is to be seen — a fact to be accounted for by the large numbers 

 of the Kite (Milvus parasiticus) inhabiting the latter island. 



"Although a familiar cage-bird very little is known about its habits 

 when in the wild state. It is therefore with much satisfaction that I 

 find myself able, from personal observation, to communicate many new 

 and interesting particulars concerning it, which I hope may prove ac- 

 ceptable to my readers, and at the same time enable them to form 

 some idea of the vie privee of this favourite. 



"At Prince's Island, which may not inappropriately be termed the 

 Paradise of the Grey Parrots, I resided for more than a year, and 

 during that time I daily carefully observed their habits and mode of 

 life in the natural state. Nowhere on the continent of Africa are these 

 birds so plentiful, nowhere so free and undisturbed. On Prince's 

 Island they are supreme among the birds; they stand in no dread of the 

 other feathered inhabitants, but are feared and respected by them. 



