SMALLER VASA PARROT. 



529 



a cast of grey or brown, according to the di- 

 rection of the light: orbits naked and whitish; 

 legs black. Said to be a native of the southern 

 parts of Africa, but not observed in those regions 

 by Levaillant, who describes it from a specimen 

 in the cabinet of Monsr. de Breukelvaart of Am- 

 sterdam. 



SMALLER VASA PARROT. 



Psittacus niger. P. nigro-mrulescens, rostro orbitisque albidis, 



Cauda subelongata. 

 Blueish-black Parrot, with whitish bill and orbits, and somewhat 



lengthened tail. 



Psittacus niger. P. corporc ccerulescente'nigro, rostro orbitisque 



albidis. Lath, ind, orn, 

 Psittacus niger. P. cauda elongata cequali, corpore ccerulescente- 



nigro, rostro orbitisque albidis. Lin. Syst. Nat, 

 Black Parrot of Madagascar. Edw. pL 5. 

 Le Vasa ou Perroquet noir. Buff. ois. 

 Perroquet noir de Madagascar. PL Enl, 500. 

 Le Petit Vasj^. Levaill. pi. 82. 



This, according to Monsr. Levaillant, is by no 

 means to be confounded with the preceding, from 

 which it differs greatly in size, though similar in 

 its general appearance: the bill is also small in 

 proportion to the bird, whereas in the preceding 

 it is very large. The Smaller Vasa measures 

 about fourteen inches in length, and the tail, 

 when expanded, is wider at the end than in the 

 former species. It is a bird of a very lively dis- 

 position, and though it cannot be taught to speak, 



