V 



PLATE XCVI. 



the birds of this country is highly interesting, but that it is not very 

 amply stored with the eggs of foreign birds, must be conceded. We 

 have nevertheless a few, and some among them of no mean impor- 

 tance, and these, should it appear to meet the wishes of our readers, 

 will be introduced to notice as opportunities occur. The subject 

 now submitted is one of those ; it is the egg of a parrot, and which, 

 upon the most authentic information was laid by the bird while in a 

 state of confinement in London, about forty years ago ; a circumstance 

 that may at least assure us of the authenticity of the article, and so 

 far render it an object of decided curiosity. This egg, together with 

 the bird, was once in the possession of the late Sir Ashton Lever, 

 and formed a part of his extensive museum till the period of its 

 dissolution, in 1806, when it came into our hands. The parent 

 bird was the Psittacus erithacus of Linnaeus, the Common Ash- 

 coloured Parrot, that inhabits Guinea, Angola, and other parts of 

 Africa. 



In conclusion it should be observed, that according to 

 Dr. Latham's information it is not usual for the female of this 

 species to lay eggs in England, but these of course prove unproduc- 

 tive, except in those few instances where the male and female have 

 been together, and then very rarely in our climate. At Marmande 

 in France a male and female that had been kept for five or six years 

 together produced young ; they made their nest in spring and laid 

 four eggs, of which never more than three were good, Labat also 

 speaks of a pair that hatched young ones at Paris. 



