92 



^HITE-fgARED <|>ONURE. 



Psittacus leucotis, Buss. 



Synonyms: Oonurus leucotis, Ge.; Aratinga ninus, Spx.; 



Sittace leucotis, Wgl.; Psittacara leucotis, Vges.; Microsittace et 



Pyrrhura lucotis, Bp. Geeman: Der Weissbackige Sittich. 



THIS small Oonure is probably one of the prettiest members of the 

 sub-family to which it belongs; it is about the size of the Tur- 

 quoisine, and of equally slim proportions; the greater part of the body 

 is covered with dark green feathers, the face and head are deep brick 

 red, and the cheeks are marked by a white patch; the top of the head 

 is dark brown, and a band of bluish grey encircles the neck, the rump, 

 vent and tail are dark reddish brown. 



There is little or no difference between the sexes, and these can 

 only be determined with any degree of certainty by watching a number 

 of the birds together, and securing a pair that seem, by their con- 

 tinual and reciprocal caresses, to have entered into the "holy bonds" 

 of matrimony. 



Writing of this bird Mr. Wiener remarks: "This small Oonure is 

 only a little larger than the Australian Undulated Parrakeet, and was 

 very rare until a year or two ago, but latterly the birds are frequently 

 offered for sale. I believe no. other Oonure will afford his owner so 

 much pleasure as this one. A pair I kept for a long time proved 

 very intelligent, lively, and hardy, and were quite free from the des- 

 tructive mania of other Conures, and never indulged in screaming." 



They can scream, however, and that right shrilly, too; but they are 

 not often guilty of such unbecoming conduct; as Mr. Wiener says, 

 they are hardy, witness the length of time several individuals of this 

 species have survived in the Parrot House at the "Zoo.'" 



The native country of this species is Brazil, where, in small flocks 

 of from ten to twenty in number, they make themselves exceedingly 

 objectionable to the cultivators of the soil, by their depredations among 



