Parrots. 
137 
is no apparent difference in the sexes, although Dr. Butler tells 
us that in the commoner variety the hen has a longer and more 
slender beak than has the cock. In the three young ones reared 
the beaks were all of the same size when I disposed of them, 
at the age of five months. This is rather an attractive species, 
as it does not scream as badly as some of the others. 
The Pf.tv's Conure (C. canicularis ) . I have had three 
specimens of this very pretty Parrot. They were all alike in 
colour, but in this case one of the birds certainly had a rather 
stouter beak than the others, but although I kept them some 
years and gave them an aviary to themselves, they made no 
attempt to breed, neither did they appear to pay each other any 
attention. One that died proved on dissection to be a male, and 
it is, of course, possible that the others may have been of the 
same sex. They are rare birds here and not often to be 
obtained. 
Four or five years ago, I secured from a dealer, a pair of 
the rare St. Thomas" Conures ( C . pcrtinax) . In this case there 
was a marked difference in the size. The yellow patch on the 
cheeks and forehead was much larger and brighter on the 
larger bird, and I congratulated myself on at last having secured 
a true pair. Unfortunately the hen had all the diseases that birdy 
flesh is heir to, and she did not live long''. A year or so later I 
was offered a strange parrot by a dealer. On its arrival I at 
once guessed it to be an immature C . pcrtinax, and on its coming 
into coloiu- this proved to be the case- In its young bird plum- 
age, it was princi])ally green, with a heavily mottled breast, and 
having no yellow on the head. It was extraordinarily tame, and 
would follow me about everywhere like a dog, but it didn't like 
my womankind, and would take every opportunity to give their 
feet a sly nip. It also spoke several sentences as clearly as a 
Grey Parrot. After I had kept it a few months it developed the 
yellow as on tlie face and forehead of the adult birds, and I then 
introduced it to my other specimen. They quickly became 
friends, and on being turned into an. outdoor aviary promptly 
went to nest. Their two clutches both proved infertile, and I put 
this down a1 the time to the inmiaturity of the hen. Last year 
they were again turned out and the same thing happened again. 
The eggs were taken and the hen removed for a month. On 
