PALiEORNIS CYANOCEPHALUS. 
(THE BLOSSOM-HEADED PARRAKEET.) 
Psittacus cyanocephalus, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 141 (1766). 
Psittaca Iengalensis , Brisson, Orn. iv. p. 348 (1760) ; Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 325 (1786). 
Psittacus indicus, Lath. Inch Orn. i. p. 86 (1790). 
Palmrnis cyanocephalus, Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 5 (1849); Kelaart, Prodromus, 
Cat. p. 127 (1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiii. p. 264; Horsf. & 
Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. ii. p. 616 (1856). 
Palmrnis rosa, Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 259, et Ibis, 1872, p. 6 ; Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, 
p. 425; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 14; Gould, B. of Asia, pt. xxvi. (1874); Legge, Ibis' 
1875, p. 282. 
Palmrnis Iengalensis , Jerdon, Cat. B. S. India, Madr. Journ. 1840, xi. p. 208. 
Palmrnis gmrjmreus, Hume, Nests and Eggs (Rough Draft), p. 116 (1873) ; Hume, Str. 
Feath. 1873, p. 433; Ball, Str. Feath. 1874, p. 390; Brooks, ibid. 1875, p. 232; 
Butler, ibid. p. 457. 
Pa Perruche d Pete lleue, Brisson, Orn. iv. p. 359, pi. 19. fig. 2; Blossom-headed Parrakeet , 
Latham, and Gould, Birds of Asia ; Bose-headed Parrakeet, The Ashy-headed Parrakeet 
(Kelaart). 
Faraida, lit. “ the plaintive or complainer,” Beng. ; Tui-suga, Nepalese ; Tiua-tota, Hind, in 
the south ; Bengali-tota, in the Punjaub ; Bama-chilluka, Telegu. 
Battoo girawa, Malitchia, Sinhalese; Killi, Ceylonese Tamils. 
Arhilt male. Length to front of cere 12-0 to 13-6 inches ; culmen 0-8 ; total length varying from 13-0 to 14-0 : wing 
5-1 to 5-25 ; tail 7-0 ; tarsus 0-5 ; outer anterior toe and claw 1-0 ; depth of upper mandible at cere 0-37 
Iris white, pale yellowish white, or greenish white, with a dusky or greyish inner circle, which latter is divided some- 
times from the pupil by a whitish ring; cere olivaceous green ; eyelid olive-brown; bill, upper mandible orange- 
yellow, variable m depth of hue, and m some with a dusky tip, lower mandible black or blackish brown*; legs and 
feet dusky sap-green, claws plumbeous with dusky tips. 
Head, face, and nape covered by a cap of flame- or rose-red, which is bounded beneath by a narrow black collar and 
oi er ai gradually from the crown and cheeks downwards with delicate blue; the black collar is concealed by the 
oi erlying cap on the hind neck and widens below the cheeks, passing up by the base of the bill to the gape ; 
below this collar the neck is encircled with verdigris-green, varying in extent, and passing into the yellowish 
green of the back and scapulars ; wings, rump, and upper taii-coverts verditer-green, brightest on the latter 
parts ; quills brown internally and with a fine yellow outer margin ; a dark red spot on the median wing-coverts ; 
middle pair of tail-feathers blue, washed with green at the base, and with deep white tips, the rest green with the 
tips yellowish and bases of inner webs rich yellow; beneath yellowish green, more verdant on the lower parts 
and under tail-coverts ; axillaries and under wing-coverts pale emerald-green. 
Individuals vary in the hue of the rump and the depth of the white tail extremities ; and many that have attained the 
adult cap, but have not arrived at the full age of maturity t, have a greenish-yellow semi-collar below the green 
ring, and a more yellowish hue on the back, tertials, and under surface. 
* Like other Parrakeets this species usually has the bill so discoloured that it is difficult to tell what its colour 
really is. 
! This is difficult to define, for, as Capt. Hutton remarks from observation of caged birds (Str. Feath. vol. i. 
p. 344), each subsequent year after the third “ only adds to the richness of colouring.” 
