PSITTACINJi:. ‘37 
Length of tail without the two centre feathers, 3| inches. 
„ of tarsus, half an inch. 
„ of middle toe, 1 1 lines. 
These handsome birds are not uncommon in Labnan ; and 
are to be seen in the earlj morning flying about above the tops 
of the trees in small flocks of six or eight, uttering in their 
flight a loud quick scream, very much like the note of the 
common Swift. They are particularly fond of the fruit of 
the Dryahalanops camphora, which they split open, and eat 
the curious crumpled cotyledons in spite of their pungent 
taste and smell of turpentine. The specimen from which the 
above description is taken, was shot when feeding upon the 
seeds of the Dillenia speciosa, a shrub about ten or fifteen 
feet high, and it is the only instance in wliicb we have known 
them venture so near the ground ; when first seen, he was 
busy opening the capsules of the plant and scraping out the 
seeds with his beak, never omitting to clip off at a single bite 
every one he emptied ; having done this, he dropped himself 
under the twig he sat on, swinging by one leg to watch it 
fall : when it reached the ground he testified liis satisfaction by 
a low chirp, and giving himself a vigorous swing caught the 
perch with his other foot, and walked gravely along to another 
capsule, not hopping but placing one foot before the other in 
a most old-fashioned way. Another of these » Parrakeets, 
which had been pinioned by a shot without being otherwise 
injured, was placed in a cag^, where, soon finding his two 
long tail-feathers to he an incumbrance, he deliberatelj" turned 
round, pulled them out, and then walked round the cage 
evidently to try the effect of his contrivance. 
Sub-farn. Psittacinffi. 
Gen. Psittaculufl. 
Psiltacnlus galguliis. 
Sapphire crowned Psittacule (Selby, Nat. Lib. 183G). 
, General colour, bright green ; on the crown of the head is a spot 
of bright blue, and at the lower part of the nape a crescent-shaped 
spot of orange colour ; the lower part of the throat and the upper 
tail-covers, which extend nearly to the tip of the tail, are bright red, 
each feather being yellow at the base ; the upper part of the wings 
and tail are green like the general colour of the body, the primary 
