JAPONESE PARRAKEET. 41? 



bird is grass-green, scalloped or varied on the up- 

 per part of the back, and sides of the body with 

 orange-yellow : the tail is green above, but orange- 

 red beneath, with yellowish-green tips : the legs 

 deep ash-colour. 



So great is the general similarity between this 

 bird and the Blue-Bellied or Red-Breasted Parra- 

 keet, that on a cursory view it might pass for a 

 small specimen of the same species, with a shorter 

 tail than ordinary. 



JAPONESE PARRAKEET. 



Psittacus Japonicus. P. macr, viridis, suhtus rectricibusque latC" 



ralibus ruber, remigibus cceruleis. Lin. Syst, Nat* 

 Psittacus erythrochlorus macrourus. Aldrov, 

 La Perruche verte et rouge. Buff, ois, 

 Japonese Parrot. Lath, syn. 



Slightly described by Willughby, Linnaeus, 

 Buffon, and others from Aldrovandus, whose de- 

 scription rests merely on the faith of a Japonese 

 drawing ; so that the very existence of the bird is 

 by no means fully ascertained. It is to be num- 

 bered, according to Aldro\ andus, among the mid- 

 dle-sized Parrots, being about the same size with 

 the common Ring Parrakeet : the bill is very small, 

 and different from that of other Parrots in being 

 curved beneath : the whole back, crown of the 

 head, neck, and wing-coverts are deep green, ex- 

 cept at the scapulse, where the upper feathers are 



