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MEALY PARROT* 



Parrot. BufFon, indeed, says it is the largest of 

 all the American Parrots next to the Maccaw 

 tribe ; but he evidently forgets the measure of the 

 bird above-mentioned. The Mealy Parrot, ac- 

 cording to the admirable figure given by Monsr. 

 Levaillant, appears to measure about fifteen inches 

 from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, and 

 is consequently a size larger than the Amazon 

 Parrot, to which it is in some pednts considerably 

 allied. Its colour is a beautiful green, deepest on 

 the head and wings, and palest on the breast and 

 belly: the whole of the plumage, but particularly 

 on the shoulders, upper part of the back and 

 wings, breast, and belly, has an elegant glaucous 

 cast, owing to the secretion of a whitish powder, 

 which, in the healthy state of the bird, never fails 

 to diffuse itself over the feathers, and which is 

 observable, though in a much slighter degree, on 

 the plumage of some other parrots: on the top of 

 the head is a moderately-sized yellow spot: the 

 edge or border of the wing, a little beyond the 

 shoulders, is red for the length of about two 

 inches: the innermost of the larger quill-feathers 

 are red on their middles, forming a longish patch 

 of this colour, as in the Amazon Parrot, and the 

 remainder is deep blue, darker or blacker at the 

 tips: the outside feather on each side the tail, 

 which is larger in proportion than in the Amazon 

 Parrot, is deep-blue on the outside web, growing 

 somewhat paler at the tip: the remaining tail- 

 feathers are green, with slightly yellowish tips, 

 but have not the least appearance of red on their 



