62 JENDAYA CONURE. 



been noticed by other aviarists, M. Alfred Rousse, for instance, writes : 

 f Ne doit pas tarder de reproduire, car elle s'accouple souvent." 



The following is a description of the adult plumage: — Head and neck 

 bright golden yellow; lores, or spaces between the eyes and the man- 

 dibles red; rump red; back and wings green; flight feathers blue; 

 breast reddish yellow; thighs red; tail green and blue; beak black. 



The female, which is a trifle smaller than her mate, resembles him 

 in almost every particular; however, she has less red about the lores, 

 and is generally of a duller shade in every part. 



The young, according to Finsch, are at first of a dull green colour 

 on the upper surface of the body, the rump feathers only shewing red 

 at their edges. Euss, however, desciibes an immature Jendaya thus: 

 "Upper parts dark grass green; sides and top of the head reddish 

 with a purple shading; forehead and lores dull dark red; rump speckled 

 with dark reddish purple; throat and breast pale olive green, with an 

 edging of dull red to each feather; belly, sides, vent and under wing 

 coverts dark purplish red; thighs green; beak dark grey; eyes black; 

 feet blackish grey. 



"In the adult male the eyes are pearl grey, with a narrow red border 

 round the pupil, and the legs and feet are black/' 



The Jendaya is about the same size as the Half-Moon Conure, that 

 is to say, about a foot long, of which the tail measures about five 

 inches. 



The attractive appearance of this Conure is beyond dispute, and if 

 the proverb "handsome is that handsome does" were only applicable 

 in its case, few birds would be more commendable as inmates of the 

 aviary, especially as they soon become very tame and confiding; but 

 unhappily it has a voice, and is possessed with a mania for letting it 

 be heard on every possible occasion, which would not be so very 

 objectionable if its tones were only soft and sweet, but they are painfully 

 shrill and harsh, and soon become distressing even to not very sensitive 

 ears. In an out-door aviaiy however, this failing of the Jendaya is of 

 comparatively little moment, for there its incessant vociferations only 

 add an item to the universal noise; its shrill cries being indistinguishable 

 in the general din. 



It must, however, be said that this bird, as happens with most of 

 its kind, is less noisy when kept in pairs than when confined by itself; 

 the companionship of a fellow, whether male or female, seems to have 

 a soothing effect upon the temper of both; and if they do occasionally 

 yell, as a rule their conversation is carried on in a decidedly minor 

 key; and the "love-song" of the male is really not at all unpleasant 

 for human ears to listen to; then he is so attentive to his mate, combing 



