73 
throughout tropical America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. 
Among them are some of the most splendid specimens of their 
class; many of them learn to talk and imitate various sounds 
with great facility, and they are much kept as pets. 
The macaws are exclusively American in distribution, and 
have been referred to at page 38. 
The Gray Parrot ( Psittacus erythacus ) and the Timneh 
Parrot ( Psittacus timneh ), from AVest Africa, furnish many of 
the best talkers of the family. 
The most beautiful, perhaps, of all these birds, come from 
the Australian region, where are found a great number of spe¬ 
cies. Among them are Pennant’s Parrakeet ( Platycercus 
pennantii), the Rosehill Parrakeet ( Platycercus eximius ), 
the Pale-headed V&KKA.KRKT(Platycercuspallidiceps), Bauer’s 
Parrakeet (. Platycercus zonarius ), Barnard’s Parrakeet 
(Platycercus barnardi ), Swainson’s Lorikeet ( Tricoglossus 
novce-hollandice) , the Black-tailed Parrakeet ( Polytelis me - 
laments), and the Blood-rumped Parrakeet (. Psephotus 
hcematonotus ). The Zebra or Grass Parrakeet (Afelopsitta- 
cus undulatus ), also from Australia, is one of the most beauti¬ 
ful of these birds,—it is very small, and being of a green color, 
marked with undulating yellowish-white lines, bordered with 
black, it is almost impossible to distinguish it from the grass 
in which it is generally to be found. These little birds differ 
from all the other parrots, in the faculty which they alone 
possess, of uttering a repetition of several notes which might 
almost be termed a song. 
The Ring-necked Parrakeet (. Palceornis torquatus) and 
the Alexandrine Parrakeet (. Palceornis alexandri) are 
very handsome and graceful birds from India. 
The parrots of the New World, as a rule, are not so bril¬ 
liantly colored as those species from the other hemisphere, 
being generally green, with various markings of red, yellow, 
and white. 
Those species which are usually in the collection are the 
Yellow-fronted Amazon ( Chrysotis ochrocephala ), the Yel¬ 
low-cheeked Amazon ( Chrysotis autumnalis ), the Golden- 
naped Amazon ( Chrysotis auripalliata ), the Blue-fronted 
Amazon ( Chrysotis cyanorhynca ), the White-fronted Amazon 
