130 
CAGE AND SINGING BIRDS. 
to teach ; it is about twelve inches long', with a conical tail^ 
occupying six and a quarter of these inches ; this tail is very 
remarkahJe, the two middle feathers being- blue, with white 
terminations, the rest green. All the colours of this bird 
are extremely rich ; the head is violet, shot with blue and 
red ; round the neck is a ring of glossy black, and the same 
hue pervades the throat; the back is a deep green, and 
this colour, brightening into yellow, spreads all over the 
lower parts of the body - the beak is tinted like a peach- 
blossom ; the cere and feet are silvery gray. 
The female of this species has a yellow beak, a head of 
dingy blue, and no black collar, but merely a faint yellow 
tinge, which seems to mark the place where it should be. 
In the young birds the neck-ring is also absent, and the 
colours of the head are undecided, varying from red to blue, 
and sometimes green. 
The birds known as the blossom-headed parrakeet, 
the ROSE-HEADED RING PARRAKEET, and the BoRNEAN 
PARRAKEET, ap])ear to be but varieties of this species ; tl/ey 
are all characterized by the same richness of colour, althouglEi 
in the distribution of the tints they differ considerably ; the 
first of them is sometimes improperly called 
THE RED-HEADED GUINEA PARRAKEET, 
A title which really belongs to a beautiful species not larger 
than the common crossbill, known to dealers as the Guinea 
SPARROW, to be met with in considerable numbers, as cage 
birds, all over Europe, and much esteemed on account of 
their beauty, gentleness, and sociability ; the predominating 
colour of their plumage is green, brightest on the under 
parts ; the front of the head, throat, and beak are rosy red ; 
edges of the wings and lower parts of the back blue 5 feet 
and bald space round the eyes gray. 
In the female the colours are less bright and distinct, and 
the edges of the wings are yellow. 
These birds appear to inhabit all the southern latitudes of 
the old world ; those imported into Europe have generally 
come from Guinea, Ethiopia, the East Indies, or J ava. 
This a delicate species, and requires careful management ; 
the best food for them is bread and milk^ with canary seed 
