250 A DESCRIPTION OF 
THE RING PARROQUET. 
(Paloeornis Alexandri.) 
THIS is the first of the species of that name, and is sup- 
posed to have been the only one known to the ancients, 
from the time of Alexander the Great down to the age of 
Nero ; but this opinion cannot be easily maintained, as 
the communication with the East Indies, of which they 
are natives, was not much intercepted in that lapse of 
years. The bird is about fifteen inches long ; its bill is 
thick, and all over red; the head and the body green; 
but the neck, breast, and the whole of the under side more 
faint or pale; the other parts deeper coloured. It has a 
red circle, or ring, which encompasses the back of the 
neck ; and is, behind, about the breadth of a man's little 
finger; but grows narrower by degrees towards the sides, 
and ends under the lower chap of the bill. The lower 
part of the body is of so faint a green, that it seems 
almost yellow. The tail is also of a yellowish green : the 
legs and feet are ash-coloured. 
