48 
GREY PARROT. 
coloured fruit, masses of yellow flowers, lilac-coloured papilionacece, 
and mauve convolvuluses, beautiful scarlet seed-vessels of a certain 
bean that form blazing clusters of gorgeous effect amid the tender 
green foliage”; nor have we been happy enough to behold the “im- 
mense numbers of Grey Parrots, small flocks of them going together 
that flutter and play about the tops of the tall trees, whistling and 
screaming joyously all the time”, or been privileged to see “the many 
snags that rear their withered branches over the rushing stream, 
where numerous little birds have for safety’s sake hung their pendant 
nests of grass, so that there is a constant twittering and fluttering of 
pretty and brilliant forms round the gnarled old trunks and whitened 
twigs” — a lovely scene surely, and a description that inspires the reader 
with a desire to start off forthwith and feast his eyes upon its 
unparalleled beauty. 
The following interesting particulars from the pen of Mr. J. G. 
Keulemans will be read with interest: — “Of all the foreign cage-birds 
that decorate and enliven our dwellings, few are more common or better 
known than the Grey Parrot. Large numbers are being continually 
brought to Europe from their native wilds, and at some places — Lisbon, 
for instance— they may be seen in large numbers at the bird-shops, 
but nowhere is the Grey Parrot more frequently found as a cage-bird 
than in London. 
“The range of the Grey Parrot is limited to the Western Coast of 
Africa, and extends for some distance into the interior. It is common 
on the Gold Coast and adjacent islands; but is curiously distributed 
among these latter. On Prince’s Island we find these birds in great 
abundance, while on the neighbouring island of St. Thomas not a Grey 
Parrot is to be seen — a fact to be accounted for by the large numbers 
of the Kite ( Milvus parasiticus ) inhabiting the latter island. 
“Although a familiar cage-bird very little is known about its habits 
when in the wild state. It is therefore with much satisfaction that I 
find myself able, from personal observation, to communicate many new 
and interesting particulars concerning it, which I hope may prove 
acceptable to my readers, and at the same time enable them to form 
some idea of the vie privee of this favourite. 
“At Prince’s Island, which may not inappropriately be termed the 
Paradise of the Grey Parrots, I resided for more than a year, and 
during that time I daily carefully observed their habits and mode of 
life in the natural state. Nowhere on the continent of Africa are these 
birds so plentiful, nowhere so free and undisturbed. On Prince’s 
Island they are supreme among the birds ; they stand in no dread of the 
other feathered inhabitants, but are feared and respected by them. 
