44 



PHYSICAL CHARACTERS 



than the upper. The external lateral tail-feathers, 

 and the two intermediate ones, are frequently 

 different in colour from the rest of the tail-feathers. 



The edge of the epaulette of the wing, for the 

 most part, is of a different colour from the upper 

 part of the wing, being usually yellow or red ; and 

 the upper and under tail-coverts differ from each 

 other, and also from the feathers of the rump. 

 When the back is green, the wing-quills and lateral 

 tail-feathers are of a pale grayish-blue, or, at least, 

 are of a blue of greater or less intensity. The fore- 

 head, for the most part, is marked with red, blue, 

 or yellow. In some species there is a tuft of 

 feathers, forming a kind of crest, which is bounded 

 by the eyes and occiput, and usually of a different 

 colour from the other parts of the head. Although 

 Parrots be sometimes clouded, yet there is not any 

 instance known of individual feathers being spotted, 

 like those of the predatory birds, or of the passerine 

 kinds. In a young state, the plumage has frequently 

 a scaled or meshed appearance, resulting from the 

 feathers of the body, and particularly of the lower 

 parts, being bordered with a different tint from 

 their ground colour. Those feathers are arranged 

 over each other like the scales of a fish. This is 

 more particularly tlie case with young individuals, 

 in many of which insulated feathers are sometimes 

 observable, of a different colom* from the surround- 

 ing plumage. These feathers are part of the 

 plumage which is destined to succeed that in 

 which they are invested, and which liave made a 



