139 
CAGE AND SINGING BIRB5;. 
plumage is chiefly g-reen, with brown and orange markings, 
and inclining' at places to blue. It is a very noisy bird, but 
a poor talker ; its beauty and tameness being its chief recom- 
mendations. In its wild state it feeds chiefly on the kernels 
of stone-fruit. 
THE AMBOYNA PARROT 
Is a very gorgeous bird, and ought, perhaps, to be placed 
among the lories, which are distinguished by the richness of 
their colours: it is about sixteen inches long — the tail, 
rounded at the end, measuring half this length ; the head, ^ 
upper part of the neck, and lower part of the body, are a rich 
Vermillion ; the back is a fine green, turning* to blue at the 
edges of the feathers and on the rump; the tail is black, 
with faint blue and green stripes, and there is a small band 
of the former colour extending from the neck downward ; 
the upper mandible of the bill is orange-coloured, the lower 
black ; there is no cere or naked membrane on the cheeks. 
The female is nearly all green. This bird has a shrill pipe : i 
it does not speak : the feathers are remarkably loose, so as i 
to come off when the bird is handled ; but they soon grow ^^j 
again. Jj 
THE WHITE-FRONTED PARROT. 
This bird, which is found in some of the West Indian j 
Islands, as well as South America, is one of the most com- j 
mon and tractable of the tribe; it has a particular aptitude j 
for imitating the voices of animals, such as cats, dogs, and j - 
sheep, which renders it very amusing. It is about the 
size of a pigeon, and the predominating colour of the 
plumage is green, intermixed with bright red, the latter 
tint prevailing on the cheeks, throat, and anterior part of 
the neck, and edging the pinion feathers : considerable 
variation in the colours occurs in this bird ; sometimes the 
beak is flesh-coloured, sometimes bright yellow and whitish ; i 
now the head, as far as the vertex, is white; now, only the j 
forehead; there is generally a white circle round the eyes, 
and the feet are dark brown. 
THE BLUE-FACED PARROT 
Is also a South American bird, being most commonly takeni 
