SONURE. 
Psittacus leucotis, Buss. 
Synonyms: Oonurus leucotis, Gr.; Aratinga ninus, Spx.; 
Sittace leucotis, Wgl.; Psittacara leucotis, Vgrs.; Microsittace et 
Pyrrhura lucotis, Bp. German: Der Weissbachige Sittich. 
HIS small Comire is probably one of the prettiest members of the 
-L sub-family to which it belongs; it is about the size of the Tur- 
quoisine, and of equally slim proportions; the greater part of the body 
is coyered with dai’k green feathers, the face and head are deep brick 
red, and the cheeks are marked by a white patch; the top of the head 
is dark brown, and a band of bluish grey encircles the neck, the rump, 
vent and tail are dark reddish brown. 
There is little or no difference between the sexes, and these can 
only be determined with any degree of certainty by watching a number 
of the birds together, and secui’ing a pair that seem, by their con- 
tinual and reciprocal caresses, to have entered into the “holy bonds” 
of matrimony. 
Writing of this bird Mr. Wiener remarks: “This small Conure is 
only a little larger than the Australian Undulated Parrakeet, and was 
very rare until a year or two ago, but latterly the birds are frequently 
offered for sale. I believe no other Conure will afford his owner so 
much pleasure as this one. A pair I kept for a long time proved 
very intelligent, lively, and hardy, and were quite free from the des- 
tructive mania of other Conures, and never indulged in screaming.” 
They can scream, however, and that right shrilly, too; but they are 
not often guilty of such unbecoming conduct; as Mr. Wiener says, 
they are hardy, witness the length of time several individuals of this 
species have survived in the Parrot House at the “Zoo.” 
The native country of this species is Brazil, where, in small flocks 
of from ten to twenty in number, they make themselves exceedingly 
objectionable to the cultivators of the soil, by their depredations among 
