494 AMAZON PARROT. 



The general length of the Amazon Parrots is 

 about fourteen inches: the bill in some kinds is 

 blackish or dusky; in others pale or whitish; and 

 in some ash-coloured, with a reddish or yellowish 

 cast towards the base : the irides yellow or orange : 

 the plumage bright-green, with the feathers mark- 

 ed by dusky or blackish margins : the tops or edges 

 of the shoulders and a conspicuous patch on the 

 middle of the wings bright red: the red wing- 

 patch is usually accompanied or bounded by shades 

 of blue, green, and yellow, which colours are com- 

 pletely visible only in the expanded state of the 

 wings: the greater quill-feathers are shaded or 

 edged with deep blue, and have dusky tips: the 

 tail-feathers are green, but, when expanded, ap- 

 pear red beneath towards the base: immediately 

 above the bill, from eye to eye, generally passes a 

 pale but bright blue band, often accompanied on 

 its upper part by a whitish mixture, beyond which 

 the feathers of the crown, cheeks, and throat are 

 of a jonquil yellow, but paler or deeper in differ- 

 ent individuals: the legs and feet are generally 

 either dusky or of a pale greyish brown. 



The colours in these birds which seem least 

 liable to alteration are the red and blue of the 

 wings, and particularly the red; which remains 

 throughout all the numerous varieties to which 

 the species appears subject, and which have given 

 rise to a very unnecessary multiplication of sup- 

 posed species in the works of various authors. 



I shall beg leave in the present instance to 

 pursue, with some variation, the plan of the cele- 



