DOUBLE-FRONTED AMAZON. 107 



I ought to have kept it longer, for I rather think these birds take 

 several years to get to their full powers. 



The last one I had I bought partly from pity, and partly in memory 

 of "Cocot", the French one. It had lost an eye, but I was assured 

 it had been a fine talker. However it never uttered a word with me, 

 and was incurably morose. I made it sit on my finger, and taught 

 it not to bite me, but it would dash at anybody who went near the 

 cage. I eventually lost it by turning it out. It never would eat 

 anything but hemp seed, and this of course stopped my having any 

 chance of taming it by giving it luxuries. Few Parrots resist sponge- 

 cake or pea-nuts, but this refused everything but hemp seed. I expect 

 it had been caught old. If I were buying a "Double-fronted" Amazon, 

 for that is the name by which dealers call them, I should try and 

 buy a cock bird; and for that purpose I should choose one with as 

 yellow a head as. possible. The amount of yellow may not entirely be 

 a question of sex. I dare say as the birds get older they get a 

 greater amount of yellow on the head, but I always think the male 

 bird has a yellower head than the female, and for talking I would 

 always rather have a male bird, just as I would for singing. 



I have . come to the conclusion that as a pet for a cage bird, for 

 my experience is confined to cages, as I have no aviary, the best 

 Parrot is a Jardine's Parrot (Pyocephalus Gulielmi), the next, a Double- 

 fronted Amazon, and the third, a Grey. 



