114 MEALY AMAZON. 



As might "have been expected from the character we have unwil- 

 lingly been compelled to give of this bird, it is not in much request 

 with amateurs; and specimens may occasionally be picked up for a 

 few shillings, though the mai'ket price is quoted at from thirty to 

 fifty shillings a piece, and occasionally more. Recently we were asked 

 £3 for a Mealy, that was evidently suffering from lung disease, for 

 its feathers were ruffled, it breathed with apparent difficulty, and gaped 

 every now and then. Needless to say we "declined with thanks", 

 although we were, at the time, anxious to secure a bird of this species. 



A glance at the accompanying plate will convey to the reader an 

 excellent idea of the bird's appearance, which may, however, be thus 

 briefly described: — Size of a Raven, but standing on shorter legs, 

 looks less; general colour dai'k grass green; forehead, cheeks, and 

 under parts yellowish green; crown of the head yellow, changing into 

 dusky violet, and on the nape to blackish green ; back and sides 

 greyish green; wings dai'k green, with black, deep blue, and crimson 

 markings. The tail is dark green, with yellowish and blue shadings. 

 The irides are brown, and the beak horn-colour. The whole plumage 

 is plentifully besprinkled with a pearly white powder, which gives the 

 bird a very strange appearance, and has originated the specific desig- 

 nations of farinosus and pulverulentus , that have been bestowed upon 

 it; as well as its English, German, and French trivial names of "mealy", 

 "bepuderte", and "poudre", which all have the same signification. 



It is certainly curious, and, when heard for the first time, decidedly 

 startling, to find a bird talking with the voice of a man, and repeating 

 words and phrases with more or less accuracy and distinctness; but 

 after all the bird's own natural language, inarticulate as it may appear 

 to us unfeathered bipeds, is really much more extraordinary. True 

 it may be elliptical, and perhaps incomplete, that is from our point 

 of view; but in order to obtain the best idea of it that we can, we 

 should put ourselves in the bird's place, and not the bird in ours. 

 This is a difficult matter no doubt; but if we disabuse our minds of 

 all preconceived notions, it is much easier, than might at first sight 

 appear, to obtain a knowledge, limited in extent it is true, of what 

 two birds of the same species are conversing about. 



Parrots perhaps are not the best subjects to choose for this novel 

 study, for domesticity has caused them, to a certain extent, to forget 

 their native language, or at least has rendered them more or less 

 inexpert in its use; but even tame Parrots can talk to each other, 

 and will do so now and then, especially when no human being is by; 

 and ix, is astonishing what a variety of intonation, even of syllabic 

 sounds, can be detected in their utterances by an attentive listener. 



