JAMAICA PARROT. 99 



even in Jamaica, where the persecuted White-fronted Parrots find a 

 safe asylum in which to bring up their broods; and as long as such 

 exist there will be no danger of the extinction of the race; but as 

 the island becomes more and more densely populated, Gollaria must 

 of necessity be driven further and further back with the advance of 

 cultivation, and finally disappear. May that day be far distant, for 

 she is a nice bird, and if not talkative, tame and gentle, and has 

 many pretty little ways that endear her to those into whose custody 

 she has chanced to pass. 



Dr. Russ asserts that these birds make their nests in holes in trees, 

 and lay four eggs [in BaumJwhlen nisten und vier Eier legen soil); 

 but three is, by other observers, asserted to be the usual number; 

 and we have not heard of more than the latter complement having 

 been laid in captivity, in which no young have, to our knowledge, 

 been produced as yet. 



There is very little difference in the colouring or outward appearance 

 of the sexes; the male is, perhaps, a trifle larger than his mate, and 

 has the red throat of a brighter shade; but the resemblance is so 

 close that it is difficult to say of a given bird, or even a couple of 

 birds, whether they are cocks or hens; for two of either sex will caress 

 and feed each other when kept together, as freely and as affectionately 

 as if they were a real pair. 



They quarrel sometimes, it is true; and if these domestic squabbles 

 are of frequent occurrence, and one of the two birds is always the 

 aggressor, the connoisseur may be certain that they are really a pair, 

 that the quarrelsome party is the female, and the quiet one the male; 

 for, except during the breeding season, the hen birds invariably have 

 the best of it, and drive their "lords and masters" about in the most 

 uncompromising manner; yet, strange to relate, when spring, or instinct, 

 or call it "love", has turned their thoughts into another channel, they 

 become submissive and affectionate wives. But this meekness only 

 lasts for a comparatively short time, and when domestic duties are at 

 an end, Monsieur has to be on his good behaviour, and take care of 

 himself again as well as he is able. 



In the wild state he simply flies away, joins a flock of good fellows 

 of his own sex, and leaves Madame to shift for herself; sometimes 

 returning to her in the spring, and sometimes solacing himself with 

 another partner. True some kinds of birds pair for life, but Gollaria 

 does not appear to be one of them, for which reason it will be as well to 

 separate the ill-assorted pair as soon as it is observed that the female, 

 instead of submitting gratefully to his attentions, commences to peck 

 at her lord, and drive him about the aviary or cage; for we have 



