Chapter 3 - Parrots

The practice of keeping a parrot as a pet in a cage is a very ancient one, going back hundreds of years, and calls to mind at once the almost legendary figure of the sailor bringing home in its round cage the parrot he has picked up in foreign parts; and this is no doubt how the very first parrots were brought to this country.

It is a very understandable practice for no other birds rival or even approach members of the parrot family in their combination of tameness, beauty, intelligence, and their power to imitate perfectly the human voice. In addition a tame parrot—particularly an African Grey— makes a wonderful and cheerful companion for anyone who has to live alone.

While I myself-keep my collection of parrots in pairs in aviaries, I think there can be no doubt that of all birds the larger parrots take most kindly to cage life and, provided they are well cared for and treated with real love and affection by their owner, they seem perfectly happy. A proof of this is that if such a bird is put out in an aviary, even with another parrot as companion, it is at first liable to mope but will show every sign of joy once it is back in its cage and among its human friends again. I think the reason for this is that parrots are extremely sociable creatures.

They love company and attention and can hardly have too much of either, so their cage should always be where they can have plenty of notice taken of them and never in an unfrequented room. Nothing, to my mind, is more cruel than to buy a parrot—often simply because one finds it so amusing that it can talk—and then when the novelty of this has worn off to leave it a permanent prisoner in its cage, starved of affection, and in fact entirely neglected except for being given a daily supply of food and water.

Pathetic as this picture may sound, it is by no means a far-fetched or fanciful one, and it is partly in the hope of being able to improve the lot of these unfortunate creatures that I am writing this book.

First of all, the cage: if, as I assume it will be, this is of the ordinary parrot-cage type, do get as large a one as possible. The extra expense will be amply compensated for by your bird's better health and condition, and consequently your own greater enjoyment of it as a pet.

Parrots like exercising the muscles of their feet by walking about on a flat surface, so if the cage has one of those, to my mind, totally unnecessary wire grids fixed an inch or so above the sand tray, I should remove it with all speed.

Another of the usual appurtenances of a parrot cage is the swing hung from the top. Personally I think a bird gets a lot of pleasure out of this, but only in a large cage. I have seen swings in some of the smaller cages whose insufficient head clearance means that the wretched parrot hits its head on the bottom of the swing whenever it moves along the central perch. Such cages should not be fitted with swings.

The central perch is usually made of some very hard wood, and this is essential as a parrot would soon chew up anything softer. The exercise of its beak is, however, very necessary to its general health, and a considerate owner will not fail to supply a cotton-reel from time to time, or a small bundle of twigs which it can utilize for this purpose. Parrots enjoy whittling, which in addition to helping to keep their beaks in order gives them something to do. This is very-important for it is partly boredom which leads to feather-plucking in caged parrots, and most of my readers must at some time have seen half-naked specimens whose miserable appearance is due to this distressing vice. Unsuitable feeding is also partly responsible, but I will deal with that later.

The most important thing of all with a caged parrot is to let it out of its cage for an hour or so at regular intervals— preferably every day. A pet parrot will become extremely attached to its owner provided its affection is returned. Anyone who is really fond of his parrot will not therefore treat its daily liberty period as an irksome necessity, but as a pleasure in which both will share. I had a delightfully tame little Senegal Parrot which, on these outings, would fly after me down long passages from room to room, and it was doubtless because of these regular daily periods of wing exercise that it lived in my possession for no less than twenty-one years—a remarkable life-span for so comparatively small a bird.

Many of the larger parrots, however, content themselves with walking about on the floor of the room and then climbing up on to the knee or shoulder of their owner, where after having enjoyed their exercise they will usually sit and preen their feathers.

Others, flapping their wings from time to time, like nothing better than to be allowed to climb about on the outside of their cage, and I recently saw a parrot-cage— large and admirable in every way—whose designer had had the ingenious notion of replacing the ordinary circular carrying handle with a stout perch about five inches long upon which the bird could rest when tired of climbing about on the outside of its cage. I only wish all cage designers showed as much imagination and an equal knowledge of the requirements of caged birds.

Very often one sees caged parrots that may look lively and healthy enough in themselves, but their plumage has a brittle, lack-luster appearance and this is due to a lack of bathing facilities. Some parrots will make use of a shallow vessel to bathe in, but, as is evident in outdoor aviaries, the majority much prefer a rain bath. A caged parrot can therefore be put out of doors in a light shower of rain, but as this means drying the whole cage afterwards, a much simpler method is to spray the bird periodically with a fine misty spray of tepid rain-water. At first it may be frightened of this, but will soon learn to thoroughly enjoy it, and an African Grey I had always became very excited on the appearance of the spray and would urge me on by saying excitedly, "Spray Polly!" Even if one merely went through the motions of spraying her she would at once ruffle and shake her feathers as if drenched through! This is therefore an important item in the treatment of a caged parrot and one from which it derives considerable pleasure as well.

Now as to the feeding of the bird: at Keston, I give sunflower and a few monkey-nuts, with the addition of a little canary-seed, groats or oats, and hemp. Particular care must be exercised with the latter which, in excess, is over-stimulating and fattening, and can cause heart troubles and feather-plucking. Given sparingly, however, hemp is one of the most valuable of seeds particularly when birds are rearing young, at which time the amount can be considerably increased. At other times, and particularly in the case of a caged bird, a few grains every day or, better still, every other day, are quite sufficient, and it is better to omit it altogether than to give too much of it.

Far too many parrot owners seem to imagine that a daily supply of seed and water constitutes the sole requirements of their pets. This is quite wrong, for they need other things as well. Chief among these are fruit and green-foods, which can take various forms, but perhaps if the parrot were given its choice it would choose sections of sweet ripe apple and the leaves of spinach beet. These, or other fruits and green-foods, should be given at least twice a week.

As to tidbits, this is rather a moot point, and I can perhaps do best here by referring again to my own much-loved and very long-lived Senegal Parrot. She was particularly fond of scraps from the table such as new potatoes, boiled white fish and scrambled egg—all of course given only occasionally and in very small quantities. Meat and savories, etc., should definitely not be given.

Parrots need lime in some form, and they usually appreciate a piece of natural chalk to nibble at, or they can be given a little limestone grit such as is supplied to domestic poultry. If a proprietary brand of bird sand is used for the tray of the cage it will usually contain lime in some form, but even so they appreciate a piece of natural chalk and it tends to keep them occupied.

Teaching a parrot to talk requires time and patience— particularly the latter—and a young bird makes the best pupil. The aptness of the things they learn to say is due to the fact that they have a very strong association of sight and sound and time. Thus if you say "Good morning" to your bird in the morning only, it will seldom say it at any other time of day. Similarly, if there are dogs in the household, a parrot—particularly an African Grey—will nearly always call them by their correct names, since it associates the appearance of each dog with the sound you make when you see it.

Grey Parrots have an extraordinary aptness, so that they often appear to know the exact meaning of what they say. Moreover, they seem to have a lot of the comedian in their make-up and appear thoroughly to enjoy making people laugh, and I know of few more entertaining birds than a pair of Greys in an aviary.

It is a well-known fact that a parrot will usually like either men or women—not both. What is perhaps less well-known, however, is that the sex of the bird largely decides its likes and dislikes in this direction: thus a male parrot will usually prefer women, and vice versa, and they are remarkably constant in their preferences. Few birds in fact are more so, and once a parrot has given you its heart it will render you a touching and faithful devotion for the rest of your two lives. Such affection should be fully returned by letting it out regularly, and seeing that it has plenty of notice taken of it, so that it does not get bored.

Boredom is the chief enemy of caged parrots, but it can be kept at bay. The ideal place for the bird is the main living-room of the house where it will seldom be alone and can be frequently talked to and taken notice of, for this is what a tame parrot thoroughly enjoys. Passages are totally unsuitable, being invariably draughty.

Writing this brings back a very youthful memory of a parrot with which, I now realise, all the proper canons of parrot treatment were violated. It belonged to an elderly spinster to whom my sister and I and our governess, during our afternoon walk, would occasionally deliver a note from my mother. After the safe delivery of the note we children were invited to come and see the parrot, but on no account to go near its cage as it was so SAVAGE !

The bird in question was a practically naked African Grey of lowering aspect which, mainly no doubt from the sheer boredom of living in an uninhabited room, had denuded itself of all but its tail, flight, and head feathers. We all felt very sorry for the poor bird and I had a desire to try and make friends with it but was warned at once that this would be MOST DANGEROUS, though we were told that we might scratch his head. I could not understand how this could be done until its owner returned with a slender bamboo pole about 5 feet long with which she gingerly-scratched the creature's head and invited us to do likewise. The parrot obviously knew the bamboo pole well and put its head down to be scratched by this strange means. Young as I was I determined there and then that if ever I had a pet parrot I would not remain on such distant terms with it as that!

A question one is often asked is whether a parrot should have its cage covered up at night, and the answer to this is no. The only useful purpose of a cover would be to exclude draughts, but this should not be necessary as it is of the utmost importance to place a parrot's cage where it will be away from all draughts, otherwise the bird is certain to get ill. On the other hand, if the bird is in a brightly lighted room, a dark cover put over the top half of the cage will shield it from the glare of the lights and enable it to doze, but it can be removed as soon as the lights are turned out.

A parrot's cage should of course be cleaned out every day and some of the old sand can be used again if the droppings are removed by sifting it. A sprinkling of fresh sand should, however, be added daily. It is perhaps hardly necessary to stress the importance of keeping the food and water vessels scrupulously clean.

Parrots are among the most conservative of creatures and they hate and distrust any sort of change. The following is a typical instance of this. The food pot in a parrot-cage consists of a white china vessel which fits inside a slightly larger metal one of the same shape, so that it can be removed for cleaning purposes. I know of at least one case in which a parrot that had changed hands utterly refused to feed. Its new owner was completely mystified, and then, visited by a sudden brain-wave, removed the china pot and put the seed straight into the metal container. This worked like a charm and the erstwhile hunger-striker started eating at once. Obviously it had been accustomed to eating out of a metal container and intensely disliked the novel notion of feeding from a china one. The same bird drank as a matter of course out of a china vessel and I have no doubt would rather have endured the pangs of thirst than experiment with drinking from a metal one!

One very important thing to remember with regard to parrots is that, if put where they cannot get out of the sun, they are very liable to sunstroke—even in England! I mention this because quite a lot of people seem to suppose that, because most parrots come from tropical countries, they cannot have too much sun. Quite the reverse is the case. It is true that parrots sometimes like sitting in the sun, but only if they can get out of it when they want to, and in their native haunts they are only really active before the sun has gained its full heat in the morning, and after it has lost it in the evening. Therefore if a parrot's cage is in a position where the sun from a south-facing window shines on it for any length of time the bird must be provided with partial shade.

Parrots are very frightened by loud noises and sudden quick movements, so if you want to gain and keep your bird's confidence you should always talk to it and approach its cage quietly.

Finally, if your parrot shows signs of illness give it heat at once before seeking further advice. It can be placed in front of a fire, with all but the side of the cage which faces the fire covered up so as to maintain the heat, not so close, of course, as to cause the bird discomfort; or it may be put in a hot room in which a constant temperature can be maintained. The most important thing is HEAT and by this I do not mean the ordinary temperature of a living-room, of from 6o° to 700, which is quite useless, but a steady temperature of from 8o° to 900 F., which will quickly put many a sick bird on the road to recovery.

African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus)

So very well known is this bird that I think it would be a waste of time to give a detailed description of it. Suffice it to say, therefore, that it is ashy grey, darkest on the back and wings; lighter on the breast; and lighter still on the head where it merges into whitish. The handsome red tail makes a pleasing contrast to the rest of the plumage.

Total length: about 13 inches.

Habitat: Equatorial Africa.

These parrots are usually considered very difficult to sex, but I find that if one has a number of them to compare, the difference between the sexes is fairly obvious to a practised eye. It is true there is no difference in the plumage but the males are slightly larger than the females, with bolder, rounder skulls and larger and more massive beaks and legs —particularly the latter. They are also more inclined to keep the head and neck feathers sleeked down and the eyes wide open, whereas hens frequently ruffle up the feathers at the back of the neck and half close their eyes, which gives them a somewhat sly, slit-eyed, oriental appearance.

A mated pair will often link beaks and then go through a sort of mutual pumping motion. I have never known two of the same sex to do this.

The age of an African Grey is, up to a point, quite easy to tell by the eyes. Those of young birds have very dark grey irides which gradually lighten to the pale straw-colour of the adult. This always seems a pity in a way, as the pale eyes of a grown-up Grey give it a rather cunning and crafty look compared with the limpid, dark-eyed gaze of a young bird. It is thus easily possible to tell a young from an adult Grey, but after that the chief indication of age is the condition of the feet which in ancient specimens usually acquire a gnarled and scaly appearance.

Their life span, incidentally—and this is a great point in their favour as pets—is about the same as man's. So if you obtain a young bird it may well outlive you provided you look after it properly. Thus is avoided the ever-present dread of loss and parting which is the lot of anyone who owns a much-loved cat or dog—and how tragic and heartbreaking those inevitable partings can be! It is therefore very comforting to be able to feel that with any luck your pet Grey may well be your life-long companion.

I had always found it rather puzzling that all Grey Parrots should whistle in such a very human fashion, as though they had all been taught to do so. The mystery, however, was recently solved for me by a friend who knew these birds well in a wild state on the Gold Coast during the war. He told me that these human whistlings form part of their natural cries, and he recalled his own astonishment in Africa when he first heard a number of them, as they flew overhead, whistling like a lot of errand boys! Doubtless it is this natural facility that makes it so easy to teach these parrots to whistle tunes.

As talkers Grey Parrots are quite unrivalled in the astonishing fidelity with which they can imitate the human voice. Most members of the parrot family can talk after a fashion, but usually it might be just anyone talking. With Greys, however, the actual timbre of an individual voice is flawlessly reproduced, and this can lead to entertaining if sometimes rather irritating results. They will often call dogs by name in their master's or mistress's voice, and appear thoroughly to enjoy the poor creatures' discomfiture when they rush eagerly into the room and look about in a mystified fashion to see who has called them! Similarly a Grey we had before the war at the Keston Foreign Bird Farm took a great delight in constantly calling my partner in my voice. So realistic were these calls of "Alec! Alec!..." that on more than one occasion my partner shouted angrily: "Do stop calling me. What do you want? I'm busyl" The parrot roared with laughter!

Grey Parrots are the only birds which strike me as having a sense of humour, or perhaps I should say that they are born comedians and thoroughly enjoy amusing their owners. One pair I had were quite ridiculous when they were about to breed and the hen was getting her nest-box ready to lay in. It was a deep box shaped like a grandfather clock, with a filling of decayed wood and a small alighting platform outside the entrance hole which was near the top of the box. The cock used to sit on this platform, periodically peering through the hole at his wife toiling away in the depths of the box where she was busy biting up the decayed wood to the desired consistency and thereby creating a lot of dust which caused her constant bouts of very asthmatical human coughing! Meanwhile the cock would spur her on to further efforts with frequent exhortations of "Come on, Polly! . . . Come on, Polly!" I was one day talking to the cock of another pair in the open flight while his wife was feeding in the shelter. As soon as she flew out and alighted beside him he momentarily lost all interest in me and, turning to her in the most courtly manner, said "Good morning!" after which he resumed his conversation with me. It was so very typical of a Grey and not of other parrots that he quite obviously made the remark to her and not to me, and it is this quality that makes Greys so comical and entertaining.

They also sometimes have a flair for practical joking—if scheming to starve one's wife to death comes under that heading! A pair I once had occupied an aviary consisting of the usual wooden shelter shed and open wire flight, access to the latter being obtained through a 12-inch square entrance hole, which could be closed by a sliding wooden shutter. Usually the food was in the shelter, but for some reason it had been put temporarily in the flight. The pair had been in the aviary for several years and then suddenly I began to find the wooden shutter mysteriously closed in the daytime with the hen, minus both food and water, looking the picture of dejection in the shelter, while the cock rushed gleefully about in the flight and periodically cackled with laughter as he peered at his unfortunate wife through a small hole in the shutter. Repeatedly 1 opened the shutter only to find it closed again next time I passed the aviary. Wearying of this I decided to watch unseen, and found that the wooden shutter, an old one which ran very smoothly, was closed by the cock himself.

There is nothing extraordinary in a parrot learning to open or close a wooden shutter, provided it runs smoothly enough, but a pair would usually do it quite indiscriminately just for the fun of pushing it backwards and forwards. 1 think it takes a male African Grey to conceive and carry into execution the diabolical plan of shutting his spouse away from food and water, and then gloating over her sorry plight through a small spy-hole in the shutter!

One Grey I knew had only to see you touch your pocket handkerchief—not necessarily take it out of your pocket— to give a rather disgustingly realistic imitation of human nose-blowing by someone with a heavy cold!

Nowadays the African Grey still holds its own as the best talker, and if anyone tells you he has a parrot you can be pretty certain it will turn out to be a Grey or an Amazon— most probably a Blue-fronted.

Blue-Fronted Amazon Parrots
The most widely kept of the Amazons, the Blue-front often talks and mimics well, and makes a most affectionate pet.

Actually it is possible to breed Grey Parrots in England, a fact which seems to astonish most people, accustomed as they are to thinking of them entirely as single birds kept as pets in cages. A pair I had, fully reared a single young one at the Keston Foreign Bird Farm in 1946, and as this is the first time the species had been bred in captivity in this country we were duly awarded the Avicultural Society's medal for a first breeding. To breed Greys, however, is not by any means as easy as the proverbial falling off a log, in fact it is for various reasons fraught with many difficulties. Greys are very temperamental creatures, almost as much so as human beings, so the fact that you have at last obtained a cock Grey—although it is certainly a piece of luck, as they seem for some reason far scarcer than hens—is no guarantee whatever that your hen will accept him as her husband. She may take a dislike to him on sight when they are first introduced, and the most likely result will be a series of clutches of infertile eggs owing to her persistent refusal to let him pair with her properly.

I watched the first tentative efforts to mate of the above-mentioned pair which did eventually succeed in rearing a young one, and it was, as they say, as good as a pantomime, although I am afraid the subject would have been thought unsuitable for children! The rather elderly hen behaved exactly like a newly-wed young girl who has never been taught the Facts of Life. Whenever the cock showed signs of wanting to pair with her she hurried to the farthest end of the perch with an expression of outraged modesty and sat there shivering. Some days later the cock, greatly daring, succeeded in putting first one foot and then the other on her back and obviously felt that the rest was more or less a matter of routine—but he was wrong—and had underrated the caprices of his partner. First she squawked and then gave one of his legs a sharp nip causing him to squawk even more loudly. They both then had a tussle and fell to the floor of the flight, where they picked themselves up with the utmost dignity and climbed up the wire-netting to sit on separate perches as far away from each other as possible.

It is this kind of thing, that makes it so difficult to assemble a properly mated breeding pair of Greys. A friend of mine had a very fine-looking true pair in an aviary. There seemed every chance of breeding from them and they went to nest on more than one occasion but the eggs were always clear. The reason for this was apparent when he one day observed the cock trying to pair with the hen, and watched from a distance. What happened was that the hen crouched on the perch as if inviting the cock to pair with her, but the moment he put one foot tentatively on her back she would swing smartly round under the perch Eke a trapeze artist and look slyly up at him as much as to say "That's foxed you, you dirty old man!" In the case of another pair I knew, it was the cock's fault not the hen's, because when she crouched on the perch he used to mount thoughtfully on her back and then turn slowly round in circles as if uncertain which way he ought to be facing!

My pair, however, did eventually breed successfully after their first preliminary abortive attempt at pairing, and I have already described their absurd behaviour while the hen was preparing her nest. The clutch was a small one, the eggs being white like those of all parrots, and only one young one was reared. The youngster spent a very long time in the nest-box and made quite a noise when being fed.

The extras I gave the parents at this time were exactly the same as those supplied to my Blue-fronted Amazons when they had young in the nest, and it was a great day when the first young Grey Parrot to be bred in captivity in this country finally emerged. It was a perfect specimen in every way save one, namely that it was for some reason slightly rickety which of course always shows in a rather bow-legged appearance. This, however, improved considerably after it left the nest.

My partner was naturally anxious to take its photograph soon after it fledged and I shall long remember the sequel: he got into the aviary and, while adjusting the camera, had very understandably left the door ajar as we neither of us thought for a moment that so young and apparently steady a bird would take wing. But it did, flying straight out of the door and away down the valley and it certainly proved a very strong flyer. We set out in the car to search for it but could find no trace, and depression reigned that evening since we did not for a moment expect ever to see it again. Next morning, however, something very like a miracle had happened, for when I went to its parents' aviary there it was sitting on the ground by the door of the flight waiting to be let in, and despite its tender age none the worse for its adventure! This was indeed a most remarkable thing, for it had only been fledged for a day or so when it escaped, so had had no time to get its bearings or to develop a homing instinct.

Unfortunately the life of this parrot was to be a brief one, for when about twelve months old and despite the fact that it was a very healthy little bird except for its rickety foot which was rapidly improving, it suddenly developed catarrhal fever and all our efforts to save it failed. I felt its loss keenly, not only because it had won a First Breeding medal but because it was such a delightful little bird in itself, having rapidly become tame and already showing great promise as a talker.

It had been fledged at the end of the summer and shortly afterwards its parents went to nest again. Once more they hatched a single young one but too late for there to be much hope of rearing it successfully. Actually it continued to grow and flourish during the mild early autumn weather but succumbed when just starting to feather as soon as we had the first frosty spell in November, and its body was sent to the British Museum.

The parents went to nest again several times but in each case the eggs were clear and finally I parted with them.

At the time of writing I have five Greys—a young cock, a young hen mated to an adult cock; and an adult pair. The latter are a particularly hopeful breeding proposition. The hen is one I obtained when she was still a grey-eyed youngster about four years ago, and I have found that it is when they are about her present age that hen Blue-fronted Amazons and Greys first evince a desire to breed. The cock is a particularly fine specimen. Usually the natives take them from the nest and hand-rear them, but I should say this bird is a wild-caught adult because, although he is quite steady now, he was very wild and nervous when he first arrived. Actually this suits me very well, as an untamed cock—as long as he is not too wild—is a far better proposition as a breeder since he will concentrate all his affection on his wife instead of its having already become fixated on a human being.

On the other hand a wild-caught adult is not at all a good proposition for anyone who wants a pet Grey, as it takes a great deal of time and patience to steady them down and even then some traces of nervousness are liable to remain. For this purpose the younger the bird the better, and I know of few more beguiling creatures than a still dark-eyed, young, hand-reared Grey. Of course I am the opposite of allergic to parrots and they win my heart very easily, but even so I can hardly imagine anyone failing to succumb to the charms of a youngster such as I have just described.

When the natives take young Grey Parrots from the nest they do not of course hand-rear them on the seeds and nuts that will eventually constitute their staple diet, but on soft foods of various kinds. When buying a young Grey, therefore, it is advisable to find out whether it is fully on to seed, and, if not, what it is actually being fed on. If it is still being given some such foods as boiled maize and bread and milk it is of the utmost importance that these should be continued by its new owner for some time and not suddenly cut off, otherwise the bird may die of starvation rather than sample a food to which it is unaccustomed. Its staple diet, consisting mainly of sunflower and monkey nuts, should be always in the cage while the amounts of boiled maize and bread and milk given daily are gradually reduced. In order to encourage a young Grey to sample its adult diet it is a good plan to mix some of the boiled maize with the sunflower seeds and also to give it monkey-nuts with the shells removed, although of course later on it will remove these itself. Sweet ripe apple and green-foods can be offered, and even a young bird will have no difficulty in tackling these as both are soft. One should make certain, however, that the apples really are sweet and ripe.

It is most important to bear in mind that while acclimatised adult Greys are among the toughest and hardiest of all foreign birds, seeming totally indifferent even to extreme cold—and indeed flourishing much better in unheated outdoor aviaries than in over-hot sitting-rooms—young Greys are quite the opposite and need the greatest care if they are to be successfully brought through the tricky acclimatisation period. If received in the winter they should be kept in a very warm room and be fed as I have indicated. By the following winter, and once they are on their usual seed diet, they should be their normal hardy selves.

I can remember how young Grey Parrots used to be imported into Great Britain in vast numbers—and die in numbers almost as vast—partly because the people who bought them were often unaware of the precautions and requirements I have detailed above.

It is the greatest mistake in the world to suppose that because an acclimatised adult specimen of a particular species is hardy the same will apply to a newly-imported youngster. It seldom, if ever, does.

It may be of interest to note that African Grey Parrots were kept, and I believe also bred successfully at liberty, by Lord Lilford many years ago at his country seat near Oundle. In these days of high taxation and vanishing estates such a thing is never likely to occur again so it is perhaps worth recording that it was once possible.

In conclusion, all I have said about parrots in the general discussion of that subject applies equally, and perhaps even more so, to Greys—as they are the most sensitive and intelligent of all the great parrot clan.

Timneh Parrot (Psittacus timneh)

This smaller, darker-coloured race of the well-known African Grey comes from Liberia and lower Sierra Leone, and has occasionally been brought over to Britain.

It is dark grey with the rump and abdomen pale grey and the tail chocolate-brown.

Length: 12 inches.

The Timneh is said to make an affectionate pet but to be a less gifted talker than its larger relative. Both require the same treatment.

Active Amazon Parrot
See Jamaica Amazon Parrot.

Bahama Amazon Parrot (Amazona bahamensis)

The Bahama is very much like the closely related Cuban Amazon, being green with a white head, pink on the throat, a certain amount of vinous on the abdomen and most of the green feathers bordered with blackish.

Total length: 13 inches.

Distribution: Fortune Island, Acklin Island, Inagua, in the Bahamas.

Blue-Faced Amazon Parrot {Amazona braziliensis)

The Blue-faced or Red-tailed Amazon is a colourful bird of about the same size as the Blue-fronted. It is mainly green with blackish edged feathers, and a pink crown and some pinkish-red at the bend of the wing. There is some bright violet on the cheeks, some red in the tail, the outer feathers of which are purplish-vinous, tipped with yellow.

Total length: 14 inches.

Habitat: Brazil.

Blue-Fronted Amazon Parrot (Amazona aestiva)

Next to the African Grey and possibly vying with it in popularity is the Blue-fronted Amazon—much the best-known of the numerous Amazon family, the members of which range in size from the huge and magnificent Imperial (19 inches long), to the little Spectacled, which is only just over 10 inches.

The male is mainly green with some of the feathers, including those of the hind-neck and mantle, bordered with slaty-black. The forehead is blue, and the crown, cheeks and throat yellow. Both the extent and the brilliance of coloring in these two areas vary greatly, hardly ever being exactly alike in any two specimens: in some the yellow is more cream-colored and the blue very pale, while in others both colors are very deep and vivid, and these are particularly beautiful birds. The outer webs of the primaries are dark blue, the secondary containing an extensive red patch. The color at the bend of the wing varies considerably, being anything between almost pure yellow and quite pure red; and although I only give this as my own opinion, for what it is worth, I believe that only those birds that have pure red in this area are certain hens while those with even a small admixture of yellow are young cocks. The tail feathers are green, paler at the tips, with a red patch near the base of the outer ones. The bill is almost black.

Length: between 14 and 15 inches.

Distribution: Brazil, Paraguay, Argentine.

Before the war I bred quite a number of these birds from a single pair, their first brood consisting of five all fully reared, and for this I was awarded the Avicultural Society's medal for a first breeding in Britain. After the war I bred them to the second generation aviary-bred, a hen of this original brood, mated to an unrelated cock, rearing a fine brood of four.

They were bred in quite a small aviary of an overall length of about 15 feet, and the nest chosen was of the grandfather-clock type. While the young were in the nest, which in the case of the larger parrots is a very considerable period, the parents' ordinary diet was daily supplemented with such extras as boiled carrots and potatoes as well as scrambled egg and boiled white fish. I believe such bulk foods to be very necessary for large parrots whose young remain long in the nest, as it frees them from the burden of having to feed them entirely on such comparatively small seeds as sunflower etc.

As in the case of budgerigars, the young were all of different ages, the last one leaving the nest some time after the first, and although the coloring of each differed considerably, I found them very hard to sex, particularly as, if I remember rightly, they all started life with pure red shoulder patches. I don't believe that the brilliance or otherwise of the blue and yellow areas on the face and head is any criterion to go by in either adults or young.

The Blue-fronted Amazon is the most widely-kept of all parrots and if anyone tells you he has "a green parrot" you can be pretty certain it is a bird of this species.

It takes well to cage life and makes a lively, entertaining and affectionate pet. In his book Parrots and Parrot-like Birds the late Duke of Bedford (when Marquess of Tavistock) wrote as follows about a bird of this species: "Some years ago my mother had a Pekinese dog of a very irascible disposition who particularly objected to the ministrations of the vet. An Amazon we had at the time learned to give a most realistic representation of a stormy interview between Che Foo and his medical adviser, the infuriated yells of the dog mingling with the soothing words wherewith his friends endeavored to assuage his ill-humor."

Sometimes a Blue-front will give you a nip in moments of excitement but on the whole the species is gentle and good-tempered. Incidentally it is important that one's movements should be deliberate and leisurely when handling them as it is usually fear that causes them to bite, and it is sudden rough movements that cause fear in a bird, however tame it may be.

Blue-fronts have a wonderfully varied medley of cries to which they usually give vent morning and evening—particularly the latter. These sound more pleasant out of doors than in a room where they can be rather over-powering, but they do not usually last for long and should be put up with, as they are a natural sign of good health and exuberance.
This species makes quite a good talker and is an excellent mimic of almost every sort of sound—some of them more desirable additions to its repertoire than others! So it behoves one to be rather careful as to what sounds one's Blue-fronted is likely to hear, otherwise the results may prove embarrassing!

The housing, feeding and general management of the Blue-front should be exactly the same as I have recommended for the African Grey Parrot, and although it lives to a considerable age, it is perhaps not quite so long-lived as that species.

Bodin's Or Bodini's Amazon Parrot (Amazona bodini)

This Amazon is green with a red frontal band, some purple on the cheeks and a scarlet rump. Total length: 14 inches. Habitat: Venezuela.

Cayman Amazon Parrot (Amazona caymanensis)

This bird is very much like a Cuban Amazon but is said to have a more extensive area of pink on the throat. Total length: 11 inches. Habitat: Grand Cayman, West Indies.

Cuban Amazon Parrot {Amazona leucocephala)

The Cuban Amazon, always a scarce bird in captivity, was nevertheless rather more often imported than the other members of the small group of darkish green Amazons that have white and pink markings about the head and throat.

It is a rather dark but bright green with the feathers of the front part of the body bordered with slaty-black. These borders are widest on the head and neck and there is a slaty-black patch behind the eye and at the back of the crown. The forehead is white, the throat and cheeks being bright coral pink, and there is a vinous patch on the abdomen. The tail is green with a patch of vinous colour near the base of the outer feathers. The outer webs of the nights are vivid blue which looks particularly beautiful when the bird partially lowers its wings in display.

They are difficult to sex singly but I should say that most hens have rather less pink on the throat but perhaps rather more vinous on the belly, and they are slightly smaller than the cocks.

The total length is 13 inches; the bird being perceptibly slimmer and smaller than a Blue-front.

Habitat: Cuba.
I have two pairs of these birds and have just had the great satisfaction of being the first person ever to breed the species in confinement. Pair number one went into their nest box several times but then seemed to lose interest, possibly because their aviary, owing to its situation, rather lacked privacy.

Pair number two however went to nest without delay in a grandfather clock type nest box and reared two very fine young ones which, as I write, have just fledged and I think there may possibly be a third one still in the nest.

The parents were given an extra daily ration of hemp while they were rearing their brood, as well as pieces of stale bread soaked in sweetened milk; boiled carrot and potato; and a plentiful supply of spinach-beet leaves and apple.

My four were obviously young birds when they arrived, and, as I expected, I had to wait four years before they showed any signs of going to nest.

No information as to their hardiness or otherwise being available I had to experiment with mine, and I gave them heat in the shelter of their outdoor aviary for the first winter. Subsequently, however, I discontinued the heat and have found them perfectly hardy provided they are shut into a draught- and damp-proof shelter each night during the winter months.

At first they were terribly shy and wild, so much so as to render it quite painful to go anywhere near their aviary, but later on they had, whether they liked it or not, to become accustomed to the presence of carpenters erecting other aviaries in the vicinity of theirs, and this proved a blessing in disguise as it had the effect of making them quite steady.

Even for Amazons they are very vocal, giving vent morning and evening to a particularly varied medley of amazonian cries. They are very strong flyers and are, I should say, the most active Amazons I have ever kept, and for this reason I would consider them far more suited to aviary than cage life.

In addition, they seem, judging by my four, to be singularly lacking in the usual parrot gift of mimicry, and consequently I doubt if they would make good talkers. It is true I have never made any special effort to teach mine to talk, but in the morning I generally greet them with the usual "Hullo, Polly!" which most parrots, of course, will pick up at once, although my Cubans never have. Nor, which is much more unusual, do they attempt to imitate the various cries of other birds in adjacent aviaries—not even the powerful wolf whistles and spirited renderings of "Pop Goes the Weasel" and other tunes that are the pride and joy of a pair of Greater Hill Mynahs in the next aviary to theirs.

Though never before pure-bred, I seem to remember reading somewhere that a hybrid Cuban Amazon x Blue-fronted Amazon was bred on the Continent some years ago.

They require the same feeding as the Blue-front.

Diademed Amazon Parrot (Amazona diademata)

Green is the general colour of this parrot, with some lilac on the upper breast and front of the crown and some red in front of the eye. The neck feathers have lilac tips and those of the mantle are bordered with blackish. There is a red bar in the wing and some blue in the nights.

Total length: 14 inches.

Habitat: Amazon Valley.

Dominican Amazon Parrot (Amazona bouqueti)

The face is blue, the upper parts are green with black borders to the feathers. The tail is green tipped with yellowish, the outer tail feathers being marked with blue and red. There is some blue in the flights.

Total length: 16 inches.

Habitat: Dominica, West Indies.

Dufresne's Amazon Parrot (Amazona dufresneana)

Dufresne's Amazon is fairly dark green with a wash of bronze on forehead and crown, some bright blue on the throat and cheeks, and an orange wing-bar.

Total length: 14-5 inches.

Habitat: Guianas.

Festive Amazon Parrot (Amazonafestiva)

One of the better-known Amazons in captivity, the Festive is a handsome bird and is a trifle larger than a Blue-front.

It is green with a narrow frontal band of vinous-red, and a distinct bluish tinge round the eye and on the crown and throat. There is some brilliant dark blue in the flights and the upper rump is scarlet. Both these colors are, however, practically invisible when the bird is sitting motionless on a perch, at which time it appears merely green, but are very evident and beautiful when the wings are slightly opened and thrust forward in display. The bill is darkish horn-color.

I do not know of any sexual difference in the plumage, but the female is said to be a slightly smaller bird with a less massive beak.

Total length of male: a little over 14 inches.

Habitat: Amazon Valley up to eastern Peru.

As I write I have just acquired a Festive Amazon which has so far lived up to the reputation of this species for being less noisy than most of its allies. This particular bird does not seem to be a talker but it is quite tame. It is a fine specimen and I hope later on to put it out in an aviary to add to the collection of parrots I am gradually getting together for breeding purposes.

Some Festive Amazons prove easier to tame and teach to talk than others but the best of them are said to make brilliant talkers with a particularly clear enunciation.

Feeding and treatment should be the same as for the Blue-fronted Amazon.

Finsch's Amazon Parrot (Amazona finschi)

The general colour is green, brightest on the cheeks, with dull rose-red on the forehead and in front of the eye. The crown is lilac, the neck and breast feathers are bordered with black. There is some blue in the flights and a pinkish-red bar in the wing. There is a tinge of yellowish in the tail.

Total length: 13 inches.

Habitat: western Mexico.

Green-Cheeked Amazon Parrot (Amazona viridigena)

This Amazon is also green, brightest on the cheeks, with red on top of the head and in front of the eye. There is some lilac behind the eye. The feathers at the back of the neck are tipped with black. There is a red patch in the wing and some deep almost blue-black in the flights.

Total length: 13 inches.

Habitat: eastern Mexico.

Green-Headed Amazon Parrot (Amazona virenticeps)

This bird is green with a yellowish tinge on the breast and cheeks, and some blue at the front of the crown, with the back of the crown and neck washed with lilac. The neck feathers are bordered with blackish; the tail is green merging into yellowish; there is some red in the wing, and the nights are blue and blackish.

Total length: 16 inches.

Distribution: Costa Rica and Veragua.

Green-Rumped Amazon Parrot {Amazona chloronota)

Green is the general colour of this parrot, but it has a tinge of blue behind the eye and on the crown and throat; some dull red in front of the eye and on the forehead; and some blue at the bend of the wing and darker blue in the flights. There is a tinge of vinous at the base of the tail feathers.

Total length: about 14 inches.

Habitat: Amazon Valley.

Guatemalan Amazon Parrot {Amazona guatemalae)

Here the green is slightly mealy on the wings and mantle, and the crown is blue merging into lilac at the back of the head, the neck feathers having dark edges. There is some pinkish-red and dark blue in the wings. The tail is green merging into yellowish.

Length: about 16 inches.

Distribution: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras.

Guilding's Amazon Parrot {Amazona guildingi)

I propose to deal very briefly here with a large, handsome, but rare Amazon which is or was occasionally to be seen at zoos.

The main body-color of Guilding's Amazon is quite unlike that of any other Amazon, being brown, orange and yellow, reminding one of the tints of autumn leaves. The whole effect, however, is very rich, as the flights are brilliant dark blue, there is some green in the tail and round the neck, while the crown is white, and the back of the neck purplish-lilac.

Total length: 17 inches.

Habitat: St. Vincent, West Indies.

Altogether this is a magnificent creature and all too rarely met with. It is too big a bird to be housed in any ordinary parrot-cage but is a splendid sight in an aviary, and I always remember two fine specimens which the late Duke of Bedford had in his collection, particularly as I painted the portrait of one of them. They have voices in proportion to their size and should be given the same diet as a Blue-front.

Red And Blue Macaw And Blue And Yellow Macaw
Two of the: best-known and most spectacular of all the Macaws.   No Zoo visitors can fail to recognize these gorgeous, not to say gaudy, birds.

Imperial Amazon Parrot {Atnazona itnperialis)

Although a very large parrot, the Imperial Amazon is not, as it is described in Tavistock's Parrots and Parrot-like Birds, "nearly twice as large as the Blue-fronted Amazon". Nearly half as large again would be nearer the mark as the respective sizes of the two birds are given in the same book as 14-15 inches for the Blue-front, and 19 inches for the Imperial. The latter is nevertheless a very large and imposing bird and the most truly regal of all the Amazons— an effect that is enhanced by its wearing of the royal purple. A further tribute to its imposing appearance is the fact that it was formerly known as the "August Parrot".

The back is green with some red and blue in the flights; the head, neck and breast being of a wonderful crimson-tinged purple, so deep as to be nearly black on the collar.

It was always an extreme aviculture rarity, its sole habitat being the Island of Dominica, but the London Zoo had at any rate one specimen, and there is a record of one owned by the late Canon Dutton, which learned to talk.

Jamaica, All-Green   Or   Active   Amazon Parrot (Amazona agilis)

The Jamaica, All-Green or Active Amazon is one of the smaller Amazons which is entirely green with a certain amount of red in the tail and wings and some blue in the flights.

Total length: 10*5 inches.

Habitat: Jamaica.

Lesson's Or Lilacine Amazon Parrot (Amazona lilacina)

This parrot is green, yellowish on the cheeks, with some red on the forehead and in front of the eye; the crown is lilac. The neck feathers are washed with lilac and bordered with blackish. There is some blue in the wing which has a bar of pinkish-red. The tail has some lilac and a red patch near the base of the feathers.

Total length: 13 inches.

Habitat: west Ecuador.

Levahlant's Amazon Parrot (Amazona oratrix)

The Levaillant's or Double-fronted Amazon is one of the better-known species, and is a very striking-looking bird.

The male is green, paler and with a very faint bluish tinge on the breast. The head and neck are bright buttercup-yellow, paler on the crown. The wing-bar is pinkish-red as is the shoulder or bend of the wing. There are often a few yellow feathers among the green on the mantle. The flights show blue, green and black colouring and the tail feathers are pale green at the tips. There is a patch of bright red near the base of the tail. The bill is almost white, and a striking feature is the red iris of the eye.

Length: about 15 inches. Although this is only an inch longer than the Blue-fronted Amazon, Levaillant's Amazon appears considerably larger as it is a much more massively-built bird.

Distribution: Mexico, Yucatan, and Honduras.

I have a very fine couple of these Amazons, which, judging by the more massive head and legs of one of them, as well as their general behavior to each other, I should say are most certainly a pair. The only plumage difference between the two is that the shoulders of what I take to be the cock are almost entirely pinkish-red, while those of his companion are mainly pale yellow; also his head is of a deeper, more vivid yellow.

They were obtained from a well-known London store, and their excellent condition on arrival does great credit to the manager of its livestock department. Usually, when put into an aviary, caged parrots have to have the food put close to the perch on which they are sitting, but these proved to be strong flyers and found the food supply at once.

Levaillant's Amazon seems to be quite hardy, my pair having wintered successfully in an outdoor aviary with a cosy but unheated shelter into which they were shut each night, and they remained in perfect health during even the coldest spells. They are a very fine couple and I have great hopes of breeding from them.

Morning and evening they indulge in a chorus of the usual Amazonian medley of cries, which in their case are rather more mellow than with some of the other species.

My pair are very steady, and tame in so far as they will take monkey-nuts from my fingers. As pets they seem to have a somewhat mixed reputation, which can be summed up by saying that when they are good they are very, very good, and when they are bad they are horrid!

Apparently they sometimes prove brilliant talkers, and the late Duke of Bedford, in his book, Parrots and Parrot-like Birds, mentions one that belonged to Canon Dutton, which "sang seven songs, did the French military exercises, said other things and swore volubly like a French sailor and was always ready to perform at command". He adds that it was a gentle bird and "bore its master no malice though he had to hold it during a painful operation".

From the same book I add a very interesting quotation showing that these Amazons have been known as pet birds in England for centuries: "An old portrait by Marc Geerarts represented Lady Arabella Stuart with a Levaillant's Amazon, a Red and Green Macaw and a pair of Red-faced Lovebirds. The date of the picture must be about 1590 and it is interesting to find that these birds were known to English aviculture at so early a date."

The feeding and general management of this Amazon should be exactly the same as I have recommended for the Blue-fronted.

Mealy Amazon Parrot (Amazona farinosa)

This fairly well-known Amazon is larger than the Blue-fronted, and I must own I am never quite clear as to whether it gets its name from the presence of a mealy colour in its attire or from the rather dusty or powdery appearance of its plumage.

It is a green bird with a slight mealy tinge on the mantle, neck and rump. The feathers of the crown and back of the neck are bordered with purplish-black, darkest on the neck, and there is a yellowish-orange patch or spot on the crown.

The flights are dark blue and blackish, and there is some red at the bend of the wing. The tail is green, paler and more yellowish at the tip. The bill is of a lightish horn-colour.

I do not know of any difference in the plumage of the sexes.

Total length: about 15 inches.

Habitat: Guianas.

I have never kept this Amazon myself and little seems to have been recorded about its character and habits in captivity. It would appear, however, to make an excellent pet. The late Canon Dutton—a great parrot keeper—had one that was tame and gentle and a very talented talker (most of its conversation being in a native dialect it had picked up when young) but apparently it was a somewhat noisy bird.

Treatment as for a Blue-front.

Mercenary Amazon Parrot {Atnazona mercenaria)

Rather similar in colour to the above, the Mercenary Amazon is green, paler on the breast and brightest on the cheeks, with a mealy tinge on the mantle and back of the neck, the feathers being bordered with purplish-black. There is some dark blue in the wings, which have a red bar. The flights are blackish, with a few red and yellow feathers at the bend of the wing. The tail feathers are yellowish at the tip and marked with vinous-red.

Total length: 13-5 inches.

Distribution: Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia.

Orange-Winged Amazon Parrot (Atnazona atnazona)

Green is the chief colour of this Amazon, the neck feathers having dark edges. A patch of mingled yellow and blue feathers distinguishes the crown. The cheeks are yellowish-orange, and there is dull orange at the bend of the wing. There is blue, black and green in the nights and an orange wing-bar. The outer tail feathers merge into yellowish at the tip with a dull orange patch at the centre.

Total length: 13*5 inches.

Habitat: Colombia.

Panama Amazon Parrot (Amazona panamensis)

The Panama Amazon is green, faintly tinged with bluish on the crown, throat, cheeks and breast, and with some yellow on the crown and red at the bend of the wing. There is some dark blue in the flights and the usual red patch on the secondaries forming a wing-bar.

Total length: 12 inches.

Habitat: Colombia, Panama.

Plain-Coloured Amazon Parrot (Amazona inornata)

In spite of its name, this Amazon is not all of one colour. It is mainly green, brightest on the forehead, breast and cheeks, and washed with mealy on the neck and mantle, the feathers of which are bordered with purplish-black. The flights are blackish with some red and dark blue on the secondary, and the bend of the wing is tinged with red. The tail feathers green merging into yellowish.

Total length: 15 inches.

Habitat: Ecuador.

Pretre's Amazon Parrot (Amazona pretrei)

Pretre's Amazon is green with black borders to the feathers and a golden tinge on the mantle, wings and tail-coverts. There is some red on the crown and at the bend of the wing. The thighs have a mixture of red and yellow. There is some blue and black in the wings, and the outer tail feathers are tinged with vinous and yellowish at the tips.

Total length: 13-5 inches.

Distribution: south-east Brazil and Rio de la Plata.

Red-Fronted Amazon Parrot (Amazona vittata)

The Red-fronted Amazon is bright green with the head and neck feathers bordered with black, and a red forehead. There is some slaty-blue in the flights, the outer tail feathers are tinged with blue and there is a trace of red near the base.

Total length: 12 inches.

Habitat: Porto Rico.

Red-Throated Amazon Parrot (Amazona collaria)

This is rather a rare Amazon but I have one in my possession which I picked up, curiously enough, at a small local pet shop. There are a great many different species of Amazon, and at the time I was unable to place this one but thought it might possibly be a very juvenile Cuban. The chief reason I bought it was because it was so desperately wild—falling off its perch whenever one went near its cage—that I thought it would be far happier in an aviary.

The Red-throated or Jamaican Amazon is small and not very brightly-colored. It is mainly green, brightest on the breast. The forehead is whitish and the crown dark slaty-blue with dusky edgings to the feathers, and the throat is of a dull pink color. The only bright colors in the plumage are the blue in the flights and the red at their bases.

They inhabit Jamaica and 1 am not aware of the difference, if any, in the plumage of the sexes.

Their size is given as 12 inches, but I should say that, judging by my specimen, it is more like 11 inches or even less.

My little bird has become friendly with a Blue-front which shares its aviary, but it took a long time to get over its fear of humanity and I should imagine it may have been none too kindly treated at some time or other. At last, however, it seems to have decided that I have no evil intentions towards it and has almost plucked up sufficient courage to take food from my fingers—but at present always loses its nerve at the last moment.

It shows no sign at all of learning to talk and indeed is altogether very silent for a member of the parrot family, the few sounds it does utter are rather mournful and discordant though not particularly loud, and are quite unlike the cheerful ringing cries and chortlings of most Amazons.

Probably a young one that had always been kindly treated would become very tame and might learn to talk, but as far as I know hardly anything has been recorded about this species in captivity.

It can be safely wintered in an unheated outdoor aviary with a proper shelter.

Red-Topped Amazon Parrot (Amazona rhodocorytha)

This Brazilian species is green with a considerable amount of mingled red and yellow on the head, and some bright blue on the throat and cheeks. The feathers at the back of the neck are bordered with bluish, the wing-bar is reddish-orange, and there is some blue and green in the flights, and a large vinous patch on the outer tail feathers.

Total length: 14-5 inches.

Habitat: south-east Brazil.

Rothschild's Amazon Parrot (Amazona rothschildi)

Rothschild's Amazon is green with a wash of blue on the breast, cheeks and throat and the feathers tipped with blackish. It has a white forehead with a pinkish tinge. There is some yellow on the front of the crown and surrounding the eye. The bend of the wing is red and yellow. There is a patch of light red on the secondaries and some blue in the flights, and the tail is dark green becoming paler at the tip.

Total length: rather over 12 inches.

Habitat: Venezuela.

Sally's Or White-Headed Amazon Parrot (Amazona ventralis)

An Amazon that was fairly often brought over to Europe, Salle's is perhaps the least beautiful of the White-fronted species—of which the Cuban is a member.

It is darkish green with the feathers of the forepart of the body edged with blackish, the edging being heaviest on the neck, and there is a patch of this same blackish slate-colour below and behind the eye. There is a considerable amount of blue in the flights and vinous-red appears both at the base of the tail feathers and on the abdomen. The bill is whitish and the bird is rather smaller than a Blue-front.

I do not know of the sexual difference, if any, in the plumage of these birds.

Total length: about 12 inches.

Habitat: San Domingo.

Most of the White-fronted group of Amazons really do better in aviaries than cages as they are particularly active members of the family. They can, however, be tamed and taught to talk although I would not call them particularly gifted in the latter respect.

If a tame specimen is kept in a cage it is of the utmost importance to let it out frequently and see that it gets plenty of exercise.

Although it has quite often appeared on the show bench, singularly little seems to have been written about the general character of Salle's Amazon.

Salvin's Amazon Parrot (Amazona salvini)

Although by no means common in confinement, Salvin's Amazon has sometimes been imported into England, and I once possessed one.

It is green, brightest on the cheeks. The forehead and a small area in front of the eye are a deep rose color, and there is a tinge of vinous on the throat. The feathers of the crown and back of the neck are very beautiful, being widely bordered with a delicate lilac-mauve minutely outlined at the edge of each feather with dark slate-grey. There is the usual red Amazon wing-bar and some blue in the wings as well. The outer tail feathers shade to pale green at the tips and have a flame-red patch near the base.

I am not aware of the difference, if any, between the sexes, although I believe it is said that the female lacks the red in the tail.

Total length: 14 inches.

Distribution: Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, etc.

The bird I had was extremely tame and charming, and whistled, but, as far as I can remember, did not talk at all.

Spectacled Amazon Parrot (Amazona albifrons)

The colour of the Spectacled Amazon is green, brightest on the breast and cheeks and lightly bordered with black on the neck. The front of the crown white, the back portion blue. There are some red feathers surrounding and in front of the eye, and some dark blue in the flights and violet-red at the lower edge of the wing. The outer tail feathers are marked with vinous near the base.

Total length: 10-5 inches.

Habitat: Central America.

Tucuman Amazon Parrot {Amazona tucumana)

The Tucuman Amazon is rather dull green faintly tinged with bronze all over, the feathers being bordered with black. The tail-coverts are tinged with yellowish. The forehead is red and there is some red at the lower edge of the wing. The flights are blue and blackish and the secondary have some blue in them. The tail is green, paler at the tip.

Total length: 13-5 inches.

Habitat: Tucuman, Argentine Republic.

Versicolor Amazon Parrot {Amazona versicolor)

Although one of the largest of the Amazon family, this parrot is slightly smaller than either Guilding's or the Imperial Amazon—two rare and handsome parrots described earlier—being 16-5 inches in length. It is another species which inhabits a single island, namely St. Lucia in the West Indies.

The upper surface is green and the breast reddish-vinous, the feathers in each case being bordered with blackish. The beak is black and the face blue.

It is extremely rare, but a specimen which belonged to Canon Dutton eventually passed into the possession of the late Duke of Bedford, and there is a record of a talented talker of this species.

Vinaceous Amazon Parrot {Amazona vinacea)

This bird has dark green plumage with the feathers of the crown bordered with black and a crimson forehead. The throat and upper part of the breast are vinous tinged with slaty-blue and with dark tips to the feathers. The bend of the wing is orange-red, the flights bluish and black, and there is a red patch on the secondary. The olive-green tail is marked with reddish-vinous near the base.

Total length: 14-5 inches.

Distribution: Brazil, Paraguay.

Yellow-Cheeked Amazon Parrot (Amazona autumnalis)

The Yellow-, or Primrose-cheeked Amazon, as it is sometimes called, was never very often imported into Britain, but as I write I have a specimen which recently came into my possession, and I think it is a hen.

The Yellow-cheeked is green, paler on the breast, with a rather beautiful violet crown and a red frontal band and lores. The cheeks are primrose-yellow and there is a red spot on the throat. There is some red and blue in the flights and the tail is green tipped with yellowish. The beak is pale horn-colour.

Total length: about 13-5 inches.

Distribution: Central America and eastern Mexico.

This Amazon's size is given in the late Duke of Bedford's Parrots and Parrot-like Birds as "about that of the Blue-front", and the reason I think my bird is a hen is because her plumage is a very much duller edition of the above description and she is considerably smaller than a Blue-front.

She is very gentle and inclined to be friendly and would, I think, make a delightful pet; also she is quite the quietest Amazon I have encountered and hardly ever utters a sound, although she is lively enough and very healthy.

The species is perfectly hardy, my bird having been wintered successfully in an outdoor aviary with a dry, draught-proof shelter but no artificial heat.

They need the same treatment as a Blue-front.

Yellow-Crowned Amazon Parrot (Amazona xanthops)

This species is green with dusky edges to the neck and breast feathers and a yellowish tinge on the breast. The head and a broad abdominal band are yellow with a tinge of orange. The flights are bluish, and the tail feathers yellowish-green with a patch of orange-red near the base.

Total length: n inches.

Habitat: Brazil.

Yellow-Fronted Amazon Parrot (Chrysotis ochrocephala)

I should say that this bird, after the Blue-fronted, is the best known and most frequently kept of the Amazons.

It is a rather bright green, palest on the head and slightly yellowish on the breast, the feathers of the head and mantle having dusky edges. The crown is bright yellow, and the flights blue and green with almost black webs. The secondary are crossed by a red bar. Near the base of the outer tail feathers is a patch of bright red. The shoulder or bend of the wing is red. The bill is fleshy horn-color, darker at the tip.

Size: about that of the Blue-fronted Amazon.

Distribution: Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Trinidad, eastern Peru.

There is not much difference in the plumage of the sexes, but a male I once possessed had a rather less bright yellow crown; some yellow on the shoulders; and rather more massive head, legs and feet than the hen, which I still have.

She is not much in the way of a talker, but is one of the tamest parrots I have ever possessed. So much so, indeed, that when provided with a husband of her own kind she twice went to nest but in each case the eggs were clear as she completely ignored her husband, apparently regarding me as her lawful spouse!

I do not keep her in a cage, but in an outdoor aviary, and I usually talk to her and stroke her head each morning. She is very fond of nibbling my ears, doing so with the utmost gentleness—which is perhaps as well, since, with her powerful beak, she would not have much difficulty in removing one of them if she felt disposed to do so!

Recently I had her right out of the aviary sitting on my hand when something alarmed her and she took flight, landing up in a belt of trees some considerable distance away. At first, although I could hear her, I could not find her, but eventually discovered her sitting high up in one of the loftiest trees. All efforts to induce her to come down, however, proved fruitless, so I left her where she was.

Next morning there was no sign of her, and I began to fear she had flown away. That afternoon, however, I found her sitting at the top of a tree which was close to her aviary and after much coaxing she climbed rather laboriously down and seemed very glad to be home again. I feel rather inclined to try her at liberty again as it appears that her affection for me is strong enough to prevent her straying, and few things are more delightful than a bird that is tame enough with its owner to be allowed complete liberty. I once had a male Alexandrine Parakeet which was just such a bird. He would follow me anywhere and was always on the lookout for me to come out of the house when he would at once fly down on to my shoulder.

Although, as I have said, my Yellow-front is not a good talker—probably because she was never taught when young—they are said often to make very amusing talkers and mimics. There is a record of one which entirely discarded parrot language and expressed all its emotions in human fashion, shouting and crying like an angry child if startled or frightened. It also seemed, to an unusual degree, to understand the meaning of what it said! Thus, if anyone entered the room dressed ready to go out for a walk, the parrot would become quite chatty about the proposed outing, saying: "Are you going out? . . . Are you going in the park? . . . There's a cat in the park. . . . Good-bye!" I do not know whether this story was a bit embroidered, but in any case the bird must have been a most amusing and entertaining pet.

The requirements of the Yellow-fronted Amazon are exactly the same as those of its Blue-fronted relative.

Yellow-Lored Amazon Parrot (Chrysotis xantholora)

The general color is dark green with black borders to the feathers. The front of the crown is white and the rear portion dark blue. There are some bright red feathers round the eye and a patch of yellow in front of it, as well as a yellow spot just beneath the lower mandible. The flights are dark blue and blackish, and there is a scarlet patch on the lower edge of the wing. The outer tail feathers have a patch of vinous-red near the base.

Total length: 10-5 inches.

Habitat: Yucatan.

Yellow-Naped Amazon Parrot (Amazona auropalliata)

The Yellow-napped Amazon used to be occasionally imported into Great Britain and is said to be a very common bird in a wild state.

It is green, paler on the breast and palest on the head. There are often a few yellow feathers on the forehead, and the nape is yellow. The flights are mainly blackish and blue with a red bar on the secondary. The tail is green shading into pale yellowish-green at the tip, the outer feathers having a bright red patch near their base. The bill is grayish horn-color. So far as I am aware there is no difference in the plumage of the sexes.

Leadbeater's Cockatoo
Leadbeater's while undoubtedly the most beautiful of the cockatoos is not the most brainy of them. It does not make a talented talker and is seldom easy to tame. It is, however, a magnificent aviary bird and one of the easiest of the cockatoos to breed in captivity.

Roseate Cockatoo

The Roseate is by far the commonest of all the cockatoos and is regarded as a pest by farmers in its native Australia where it does much damage to crops of grain. As a caged pet it becomes delightfully tame and affectionate but seldom makes a gifted talker. It is a free breeder in an aviary.

Length: 14 inches, about the same size as a Blue-front.

Habitat: western Mexico as far as Costa Rica.

I have never kept this species myself and little seems to have been recorded about it save that it is a most desirable acquisition, and is said to make a particularly good talker.

They should be housed and treated in exactly the same way as a Blue-front and, like the latter, are probably quite hardy.

As far as I know they have never been bred in confinement in the British Isles although I believe they were successfully bred a few years ago in an aviary in Australia. It appears also that a hybrid between this species and the Blue-fronted Amazon was bred in the U.S.A. towards the end of the last war.

Yellow-Shouldered Amazon Parrot (Amazona ochroptera)

This parrot is green washed with bluish on the cheeks and breast. Some bright yellow feathers appear on the crown and throat and below the eye, and a tinge of whitish on the forehead. Neck, mantle and rump feathers are bordered with black; the bend of the wing and the thighs are yellow. There is some blue in the flights and a red patch on the secondary.

Total length: Rather more than 13 inches.

Habitat: Venezuela.

Abyssinian Or Red-Breasted Parrot (Pceocephalus rufiventris)

This parrot is brown with a dark brown tail tinged with grey. The rump and under tail-coverts are pale green and the lower breast and under wing-coverts orange-red. The female lacks the orange-red.

Total length: 9 inches.

Habitat: eastern Africa.

The Abyssinian Parrot has sometimes been imported into Great Britain.

Aubry's Parrot (Pceocephalus aubryanus)

Aubry's Parrot is dull green, the feathers of the back and wings being black bordered with green. The front part of the crown, bend of the wing, and thighs are vermilion.

Total length: 11-5 inches.

Distribution: Gaboon, Congo, Angola.

Aubry's Parrot has occasionally been imported into Great Britain.

Brown-Necked Parrot (Pceocephalus fusdcollis)

The breast and rump of this species are bright green, darker and tinged with olive on the mantle and wings. The head, neck and upper part of the mantle are grey, with a touch of vinous on the crown and cheeks. Thighs and bend of the wing are orange, and tail and flights dark brown.

Total length: 13 inches.

Habitat: western South Africa.

The Brown-necked Parrot has not often been imported into Great Britain and its appearance is somewhat marred by its disproportionately large head, neck and beak. It is said to make a quiet and affectionate pet.

Jardine's Parrot (Pceocephahs gulielmi)

Jardine's Parrot is green, the feathers of the wings and mantle being black broadly bordered with green. The front part of the crown, bend of the wing and thighs are orange; the flights and tail blackish.

Habitat: West Africa.

This bird much resembles Aubry's Parrot and is about the same size.

Meyer's Parrot (Pceocephahs tneyeri)

The head, neck, wings and mantle are brown tinged with grey, the feathers being bordered with green. The rump and lower part of the breast are bright bluish-green; the bend of the wing and under wing-coverts yellow.

Total length: 9 inches.

Habitat: Equatorial Africa.

Meyer's Parrot has been brought over to Great Britain from time to time and makes a most delightful and affectionate pet.

Red-Breasted Parrot

See Abyssinian Parrot.

Ruppell's Parrot (Pozocephalus ruppelli)

This distinctive looking bird is dark brown with a tinge of grey, especially on the head and neck, and a faint wash of blue on the rump. The bend of the wing and under wing-coverts are yellow, the thighs yellowish-orange.

Total length: 8-5 inches.

Habitat: south-western Africa.

A seldom imported parrot which is notable for the female being perhaps more brightly colored than the male, as she has a considerable amount of bright pale blue on the rump and thighs and a tinge of this color on the abdomen.

Senegal Parrot (Pceocephalus senegalus)

Few birds of any kind make more delightful pets than this charming little parrot, and I have a particularly soft spot for them as one I kept as a pet lived in my possession for no fewer than twenty-one years.

Its colour scheme is simple but effective: the male is green, darkest on the wings and tail. The head is darkish grey, paler and more silvery on the cheeks, and the lower breast and abdomen are orange-yellow. The bill is blackish and the iris of the eye straw-colour. The tail is short and the wings noticeably long so that their tips reach the end of the tail.

The female is similar to the male, but has a less massive and more feminine-looking head. Young birds have the iris of the eye grey.

Length: just over 9 inches.

Habitat: Gambia.

The Senegal Parrot is a very common bird in a wild state where it favors open forest country, and it can be observed flying from one locality to another in quite large flocks. It does a good deal of damage both to maize and millet, but is particularly destructive to the ground-nut crop. It is frequently taken from the nest and hand-reared as a pet in its native country.

Senegals used to be frequently imported, and the ones that came to Europe were usually young grey-eyed birds, and were not at all easy to acclimatize, needing at first to be kept at a warm, even temperature. One of the chief difficulties was the fact that they had usually been fed on soft-boiled white maize and had to be gradually weaned on to a normal parrot diet of seeds and monkey-nuts. This weaning period is always a difficult one, and many were lost through trying to hurry them too soon on to a new diet and through keeping them insufficiently warm.

Once successfully acclimatized, the Senegal Parrot is perfectly hardy and can safely be wintered in a suitable aviary without heat. Before the war I kept two that appeared to be a certain pair in an outdoor aviary for several years, and although they made no attempt to go to nest, I cannot help thinking it was because they must have been an ill-matched couple, and that there should be no particular difficulty in breeding this species under suitable conditions.

I acquired my tame Senegal when I was still a schoolboy, shortly after the beginning of the First World War, and as she came into my possession at the beginning of the holidays, I was able to devote much of my time to seeing that she was kept suitably warm, and gradually weaned from boiled sweetened white maize on to a normal parrot diet. I have never regretted a moment of the time I devoted to her, for she became the most charming and delightful pet of any kind I have ever had. She learned to talk a little—more indeed than most of the smaller parrots—and I could do absolutely anything with her: she would lie on her back in my hand, and if I opened my mouth she would put her head inside by way of exploring and emit clucking sounds as much as to say, what an extraordinary sight! She was tameness and gentleness itself and the only reason I have never had another (as a pet) is because I felt her to be quite irreplaceable.

As I do not consider an ordinary parrot-cage at all suitable for a parrot whose total length is only 9 inches, I kept my Senegal in an all-wire flight cage roughly 27 inches long by 15 inches wide by 18 inches high, with a perch at each end.

She was very fond of her cage and was always willing to go back into it, often of her own accord, after her daily fly round the room. She used to get a great deal of wing exercise, and I think this, combined with a very varied diet which included such scraps from the table as potato, cabbage, green peas, scrambled egg, and boiled white fish (which she adored) all helped her to live to the comparatively great age of twenty-one years.

As she would follow me anywhere, I trained her to fly after me down long passages and from room to room, a favourite flight being from the dining-room, across a large hall, and then to the further end of the drawing-room where I would wait for her, and she would land in triumph, and slightly out of breath, on my shoulder!

Eventually I decided to see if she would follow me out of doors, but this was not a success as she tended to fly higher and higher and seemed quite incapable of flying down again. Finally she landed up at the top of a tall tree and I had to climb up and bring her down in my pocket as I needed both hands to climb with! I was sorry she did not behave more sensibly out of doors, but in any case she got plenty of exercise in the house.

Her plumage was always in perfect condition because in winter I used regularly to spray her with a fine spray of tepid rain-water and in summer put her out in her cage in a suitably gentle shower of rain—not, of course, in a downpour.
I mention these details because they do just make all the difference to the happiness or otherwise of a caged parrot and are often, I think, neglected chiefly through ignorance of the bird's needs. Of course, they do necessitate taking a certain amount of trouble, but if you are not prepared to do this, you should not keep a parrot—at any rate in a cage.

Caged Senegals should have plenty of fresh air (but not draughts) and should never be kept in an overheated room— a maxim which really applies to all caged parrots.

They should be fed as I have recommended for the parrot family in general and should have plenty of fruit such as sweet ripe apple, and green-food which is easily supplied in the form of spinach-beet leaves, and they are particularly fond of the fleshy stalks of the seakale variety of beet.

Yellow-Fronted Parrot {Pceocephalus jlavifrons)

The green plumage is palest on the abdomen and rump, the feathers of the mantle and wings being dark green with light green borders. The front of the crown and the feathers just below the eye are yellow, and the tail and nights dark bronze-green.

Total length: 12-5 inches.

Habitat: north-eastern Africa.

This species has only very occasionally been imported.

Blue-Headed Or Red-Vented Parrot (Pionus menstruus)

This is a beautiful medium-sized parrot which has quite often appeared on the show bench.

It is green with a brassy tinge on the wings, and the tail is a mixture of blue and green with a flame-red patch near the base of the feathers. The head, neck and upper part of the breast are vivid dark blue with a tinge of red on the throat and a blackish patch behind the eye. The under tail-coverts are mainly flame-red. The bill is dusky blackish with a tinge of red near the base.

The female is said to have a pronounced greenish tinge on those parts of her plumage, which in the male are rich dark blue, and to have a smaller beak.

Total length: n inches, about intermediate in size between a Senegal Parrot and a Blue-fronted Amazon.
Distribution: Costa Rica, Colombia, Trinidad, Guiana, Peru, Amazon Valley, Ecuador.

The species is believed to have been bred in Yorkshire a long time ago.

The Blue-headed Parrot needs the same feeding and treatment as the Senegal. It will sometimes learn to say a few words but is seldom a very gifted talker and its chief recommendations are its beauty and the fact that it makes a very delightful and affectionate pet.

It is a lively and active bird and should only be kept in a cage if it is on good enough terms with its owner to be frequently let out and given plenty of opportunities for taking exercise.

It is said not to be noisy, which of course is another point in its favour as a pet.

Bronze-Winged Parrot (Pionus chalcopterus)

The crown, cheeks and back of the neck of the Bronze-winged Parrot are a mixture of dark blue and green. The upper part of the breast is a dull darkish blue, some of the feathers being broadly bordered with buff and tangerine color. The abdomen and lower part of the breast are violet. The under tail-coverts are tangerine with blue-black markings, and the rump is blue-black. The wings are bronze with a brownish tinge, and the nights violet-blue; the tail is dark blue.

Total length: n inches.

Habitat: Colombia.

The Bronze-winged Parrot has seldom been brought over to Europe but is a very beautiful and striking looking bird. It is said not to be noisy and to make a charming pet.

Coral-Billed Parrot (Pionus corallinus)

The Coral-billed Parrot is dull dark green with the head and neck feathers and those of the upper breast bordered with dark blue. The under tail-coverts are red, and the outer tail feathers have red and blue markings. The bill is, as the bird's name suggests, coral red.

Total length: 11-5 inches.

Distribution: Colombia and Ecuador.

It has very seldom been imported into Europe.

Dusky Or Violet Parrot (Pionus Juscus)

This medium-sized parrot is beautiful in a rather sombre way.

The forehead and crown are a dull dark blue and the eye is encircled with pale blue-grey. Behind the eye there is a black area from which radiate several streaks of pale buff feathers, the beak is dark grayish horn-color with a buff mark at the base. The feathers of the mantle and rump are deep brownish-black bordered with pinkish-buff. The flight feathers and tail are violet, the former with a slight greenish tinge and the latter with a flame-red patch at their bases. The breast is purplish-vinous.

The female is said to have more green on the flights and to be slightly smaller than her mate.

Total length: 10-5 inches.

Distribution: Guiana and Lower Amazons.

I have never kept this species so can give no first-hand information about it. I have little doubt, however, that its needs in confinement would be exactly the same as those of the well-known Senegal Parrot. I should imagine too that it would equally readily become tame and would learn to talk a little. One account of the bird says that it has a somewhat unpleasant natural cry but fortunately does not make very free use of it.

As to housing these smaller parrots, I always think they look best in a flight cage with a perch each end, rather than in the ordinary single-perched parrot-cage, as they are very active and this gives them more room to move about.

Red-Capped Parrot (Pionopsittacus pileatus)

The male is green with some deep blue in the wings and tail and a vermilion crown. The female lacks the red on the crown.

Length: 9 inches.

Habitat: south-east Brazil and Paraguay.

This charming little parrot is unfortunately rare in captivity, which is a great pity as it is said to make a delightfully tame and very gentle pet.
Like most small parrots, I should think it would do far better in a roomy flight cage with a perch each end than in the ordinary single-perched parrot-cage.

Massena's Parrot (Pionus seniloides)

The general colour is darkish green; the head and neck are blue-black mixed with a considerable number of whitish-pink and^buffish feathers. The upper breast is brown washed with grey and tinged with vinous; the lower breast vinous, the feathers being bordered with green. The under tail-coverts are pinky-red, and there is a red patch near the base of the outer tail feathers.

Total length: 11 inches.

Distribution: Ecuador, Colombia.

A not very attractively coloured parrot which has rarely been imported into Great Britain.

Maximilian's Parrot (Pionus maximiliani)

This parrot, which has seldom been imported, is green tinged with bronze and with blue on the head where the feathers have blackish borders. There is a wash of purple on the upper breast; the under tail-coverts are red; the central tail feathers and flights green; the outer tail feathers being marked with brown, vinous and vivid blue.

Total length: n inches.

Distribution: Paraguay and south-east Brazil.

Sordid Parrot (Pionus sordidus)

This bird is olive-green tinged with bronze and having paler edges to the feathers of the wings and mantle. The head is blue-green mixed with buff colour; there is a tinge of blue and lilac on the throat and upper breast; the under tail-coverts are red; the flights and central tail feathers green, the outer ones having blue and red markings.

Total length: n inches.

Habitat: Venezuela.

I cannot imagine why this unfortunate parrot should have been given a name suggesting that it is a vile creature of loathsome habits, because actually it is rather a pretty and attractive parrot, but very seldom imported.

White-Capped Parrot (Pionus senilis)

This parrot, which has hardly ever been imported, is rather dark green with some dark blue feathers on head, neck and breast and some whitish ones on the throat. The crown is white; there is a bronze tinge on the wing; the under wing-coverts are bright blue with some violet in the flights. The under tail-coverts are a mixture of pink, blue and green; the tail is green with a bluish tinge, the outer feathers having a red patch near the base.

Total length: 9-5 inches.

Distribution: Central America and south Mexico.

Caiques (Pionites)

I think the Caiques should have a place in this book as they are really a small family of short-tailed American parrots which when tamed make particularly delightful and affectionate pets.

They are birds of rather slender figure and light coloring.

The Black-Headed Caique (Pionites melanocephala) has the wings, tail, rump and a spot under the eye green, and the crown of the head black. The collar is orangey-yellow, and the throat and cheeks pale bumsh-gold. The flanks and under tail-coverts are orange and the breast silvery-white with a tinge of buff.

Total length: 9-3 inches.

Habitat: Guiana.

The White-Breasted Caique (Pionites leucogaster) has the rump, tail, wings and thighs green, and the head and back of the neck orangey-yellow. The throat, cheeks, and under tail-coverts are yellow, and the breast is silvery-white tinged with buflish.

Total length: 9-5 inches.

Habitat: Lower Amazon.

I have never kept Caiques myself, but those who have are usually loud in their praise of them as pets. One owner of a tame Caique emphasised that his bird was extremely active, climbing up the window cord sailor-fashion, as well as jumping up the stairs, and with its beak pushing an imaginary wheelbarrow across the table. He also said that when he himself was in bed ill the Caique would join him and "lay his little head confidingly on the pillow and snuggle under the blankets".

Caiques are said to be rather noisy, and sensitive to cold, but a hybrid between the two species I have described was bred in 1936 by Lady Poltimore in an outdoor aviary in Devonshire.

They need the same diet as any of the smaller parrots such as the Senegal, and plenty of fruit and of course green-foods as well.

They should do quite well in an ordinary living-room temperature, but if kept in an outdoor aviary must be provided with a heated shelter into which they can be shut each night during the winter months.

ComoroIsland Parrot (Coracopsis comoroensis)

The general color is dark brown, washed with grey in the flights and lower edge of the wing. Total length: 19 inches. Habitat: Comoro Islands. It has hardly ever been brought to Great Britain.

Dwarf Parrots (Cyclopsittacus)

These fascinating little birds are practically unknown to European aviculture, but I am including a short account of the DOUBLE-EYED DWARF PARROT (Cyclopsittacus diothalmus) because I happen to have had the great good fortune to possess a male of this species, which I had for about four years.

The male is green, darkest on the back and wings and of a much paler shade on the breast. The forehead is red shading into orange at the back of the head, and the cheeks are also red bordered with a narrow violet band at the back. There is an inverted crescent of bright pale blue feathers above the eye; some blue in the flights; and the edges of the side feathers of the breast, which often overlap the lower edge of the wing when a bird is resting, are bright yellow. The bill is silver shading into black at the tip.

I am told that the female's plumage differs from that of the male in having the red face areas buff.

Total length is, I should say, about 4-9 inches, which is given as the size of a Nyassa Lovebird.

Habitat: New Guinea.

I have mentioned a lovebird to give some idea of a Dwarf Parrot's small size, but beyond that there is temperamentally no resemblance whatever between the two families.

My little bird was, as his name implies, truly a dwarf parrot—but dwarf only in stature and not by any means in mentality. Had I chosen to keep him indoors he would have made the most wonderful pet, with all the charm, intelligence and personality of his much larger distant relative the African Grey. Like some human beings who are below average height, he had not the slightest intention of allowing his lack of niches to cause him to be overlooked or ignored, and he would bang angrily on the wire-netting and make a fearful commotion if you failed to speak to him as you passed his aviary—or gave apple to another bird when he thought it was his turn first.

Altogether I have seldom possessed a little bird that was more full of character, and I was very sad when he died. I doubt, however, if their life-span is ever long and I don't think he was by any means a young bird when he arrived. He never showed any sign of talking but I have no doubt that a young specimen of such an intelligent species could be taught to do so.

He lived on the usual parrot diet of sunflower and monkey-nuts with a little canary, groats and hemp, and plenty of apple and green food, such as spinach-beet, etc. He was also fond of a piece of stale bread soaked in sweetened milk and was given this two or three times a week. After a time I cut out the hemp altogether as he started to feather-pluck, not very badly, but enough to spoil his appearance.

He was very lorikeet-like in many of his actions, and in the way he would jump along a perch.

It appears that the only other Dwarf Parrot ever to have reached Europe was a single specimen many years ago of the Black-Cheeked Parrot (Cyclopsittacus melano-genys) from the Aru Islands and New Guinea.

Eclecti

See Red-sided Eclectus.

Hanging Parrots (Loriculus)

There are several species of Hanging Parrot, but I propose to confine myself to the BLUE-CROWNED (Loriculus galguhs) as this is the one that is most often offered for sale.
It is brilliant green with a vivid sapphire blue patch on the crown; a tawny-gold one on the upper mantle; and a large patch of almost incredibly vivid shining crimson on the throat. The upper part of the rump is yellow and the lower part crimson, while the under surfaces of the flights and tail are light blue. The small beak is black.

Citron-Crested  Cockatoo

The handsome citron-crested cockatoo—white with an orange crest—has always been a rather rarely-imported species, so little is known as to its talking capacity or its docility as a pet. These, however, would probably differ little from those of its well-known relative the Lesser Sulphur-crest. Citron-crests have recently been bred in captivity for the first time.
 

Banksian  Cockatoo

There are several species of Black Cockatoos and of these the Banksian is one of the most striking. The bird portrayed is a hen whose colour scheme is more varied than that of the cock which is simply black with a crimson tail bar. Male Banksians become extremely devoted to their human friends but owing to their great size they are not suited to cage life.

The female is altogether duller, lacking the crimson throat and having only a suggestion of blue on the crown and gold on the mantle and a greenish-brown instead of yellow upper rump.

Total length: about 4-9 inches.

Habitat: Malaya.

These very tiny and delicate-looking members of the parrot family are to my mind among the most exquisite of living jewels from tropical countries that ever reach our shores, and I think the sight of a male Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot in perfect feather, sitting with the sunlight glinting on its plumage, is quite breath-taking in its sheer beauty. In addition it has a pleasant, quite weak twittering voice, and is harmless to growing greenery and weaker companions.

There is, however, the one disadvantage that Hanging Parrots are more complicated to feed than most parrot-like birds, being fruit and nectar feeders. Consequently they have copious liquid droppings, and if caged their cage should be as large and easy to clean as possible. Much the best covering for the sand tray is either blotting-paper or newspaper, and it is a good labor-saving plan to cut seven sheets to fit the tray exactly and put them all in at the beginning of the week. It is then a simple matter to remove and throw away the soiled top one each day and start afresh when all have been used up.

I have a pair of these Hanging Parrots housed in an outdoor aviary containing also a few small finches and a pair of almost the smallest of doves—the Harlequin. The shelter is heated in winter and all agree perfectly together, the only snag being that the Hanging Parrots—as is always the case with these birds—are rather inclined to get their claws hung up in the wire-netting, particularly if they are suddenly frightened.

Actually their claws are longer than those of most members of the parrot family, which may all be part of the curious habit from which they get their name. This consists of roosting hanging upside down, with fluffed-out feathers, from a thin twiggy perch instead of sitting on it in the normal manner! To do this they would obviously need particularly long claws to interlock and clutch the perch firmly while they are asleep—or at any rate that seems to me the most likely explanation of what one might call their "naturally" overgrown claws.

Another peculiarity of these birds is that they breathe about twice as fast as any other member of the parrot clan— a fact that is apt to cause a good deal of unnecessary worry to anybody who is keeping them for the first time. It should therefore be borne in mind that although they may appear to be panting like a bird that is out of breath, this is actually their normal rate of breathing.

Hanging Parrots are largely fruit and berry eaters, and in confinement should be given nectar consisting of about one level teaspoonful each of Nestles milk and honey plus a level salt spoonful of Mellins Food, mixed into a cupful of hot water to which a small piece of sponge cake may be added. They must also have a plentiful supply of sweet ripe fruit such as pear, apple, banana and grapes—and they are usually particularly fond of the last. Fortunately they are very partial to chopped-up dates, which are both inexpensive and extremely nourishing as well as being obtainable at all times of the year. The most economical way to buy them is already stoned and compressed in brick form, and then chop them up finely.

Hawk-Headed Parrot (Deroptyius accipitrinus)

I imagine this bird, which has always been rather rare in confinement, was given its name because it is capable of erecting its neck feathers to form a large sort of Elizabethan ruff, which certainly does give it a very fierce look.

The male has the central tail feathers and under tail-coverts, as well as the rump and wings, green. The flights are dusky blackish with a certain amount of dark blue and green on the outer webs. The breast feathers are dark red tipped with blue. The brown head and cheeks are streaked with light buff. The ruff, already mentioned, consists of red feathers with blue tips. The outer tail feathers are blue shading into green and chocolate-brown, and with a red spot close to the base. The bill is black.

The female resembles the male, but is said to have no red at the base of the tail feathers, and to be slightly smaller.

Total length: about 14 inches.

Distribution: Guiana, Amazon Valley.

It will be seen from the description that the Hawk-headed is a parrot of unusual coloring, but I always think it a very attractive and handsome bird. All who have kept them are unanimous in extolling their charms as pets—their gentleness, playfulness and intelligence. They will also learn to talk a little.

Incidentally, although they are the same length as a Blue-fronted Amazon, their shape is somewhat different as they are considerably slimmer and have a rather longer tail. Also the nape feathers which form the ruff are very rounded, which gives it its neat, fan-like appearance.

If caged, a Hawk-headed Parrot should be frequently let out in the room as it is a bird that requires plenty of exercise, and if kept in an outdoor aviary it should have a heated shelter in winter as it is said not to be entirely hardy.

One belonging to Mr. W. T. Greene was very apt in calling people by their correct names and making its remarks suitable to the occasion and time of day. If given a titbit it liked it would say "Ta" and go on repeating this at intervals while it ate it just to show its appreciation. If, on the other hand, it was given something to eat which proved unpalatable, it would throw it away with an expression of disgust, and start screaming! It would seem to have been altogether a very accomplished bird because, if asked to do so by its owner, it would revolve rapidly round its perch, after which acrobatic display it would erect its ruff to the full and say to the appreciative spectators "There!"

The Hawk-headed Parrot should be fed on a mixture of canary and sunflower with a few oats or groats and a few monkey-nuts, as well as plenty of fruit, such as ripe sweet apples, and the usual green-foods. It has the reputation of being rather prone to feather-plucking, so hemp is probably best omitted altogether from the diet of caged specimens, though it might be given in very small quantities to those housed in aviaries.

Kaka Parrot (Nestor tneridionalis)

The plumage of this bird is brown washed with dull green. The top of the head is grey with an orangey patch behind the eye and some vinous on the cheeks. The rump and under wing-coverts are reddish-chestnut; the tail and flights are brown, the latter having pinkish-white markings.

Total length: 18-5 inches.

Habitat: New Zealand.

The Kaka Parrot is a relative of the Kea and a favorite pet in its native land, but has very seldom reached Europe.

Kea Parrot (Nestor notabilis)

The Kea has become known to the general public chiefly because of its alleged propensity to vary the monotony of a vegetarian diet by eating sheep!

An inhabitant of New Zealand, it is dull olive-brown with a darker border to each feather. Only when the bird is in flight does one see that the rump is dullish crimson and the under wing-coverts bright tangerine-orange—a beautiful contrast to the general coloring of olive-brown. The tail is moderately short and the grayish-brown beak is long and powerful.

The female is said to have the orange parts of the plumage duller, and not quite such a powerful beak.

Total length: 19-5 inches.
The Kea of course does not actually "eat sheep", but I think there is no doubt that those in certain districts have acquired the nefarious habit of attacking a sheep's loins— particularly if it is sick and offers no resistance—in order to get at and devour the fat which surrounds the kidneys. An enormous amount of controversy has raged on this subject, some people maintaining that the bird has been maligned by sensational newspaper reports, while others consider that it deserves all the persecution from sheep farmers that has for years now been its unhappy lot.

In connection with this I feel I cannot do better than quote the following very interesting information about the Kea by Mr. G. S. Webb, from his "Notes from the London Zoo" published in the Avicultural Magazine:1

A welcome addition is a Kea, which recently arrived by sea from New Zealand. An effort to bring it by air was frustrated because the Australian authorities would not allow it to touch down in their territory! Much has been written and said about this remarkable parrot, but its chief claim to fame is on account of its supposed habit of attacking sheep and tearing open their loins to get at the fat surrounding the kidneys. Probably no bird is so playful and full of curiosity, and it may be that the latter has been the cause of the bird's undoing. Keas cannot resist anything new and so, in the early days, they flocked round settlers' huts to inspect anything unfamiliar. In this way they are supposed to have found that strips of fat that were hanging up were quite nice to eat, and a taste was acquired for this new article of diet. Newly introduced sheep proved to be irresistible to the playful Keas, as they could ride around on their backs and enjoy themselves tugging out wool. Maybe through devilment, or through some birds hanging on too tightly when sheep were on the run, some animals were torn open, and the ever inquisitive and intelligent Keas found in this way, it is assumed, that here was a wonderful source of supply of fat. It seems equally feasible that this strange habit may have originated through sheep being injured, once the taste for fat had been acquired. One can fully sympathies with sheep farmers in districts where Keas have become a menace, though there is a difference of opinion as to whether all Keas should be slaughtered. In some districts, for reasons unknown, they do not attack sheep, and in other districts there are no sheep to be attacked, but it is reported that Keas are slaughtered in great numbers everywhere, as there is a price on their heads. It is said that they do not migrate from one district to another. If this is so, let us hope that they will be preserved, at least, where they are doing no damage.

If the Kea is ever finally exterminated we shall have lost a bird of enormous charm: mischievous it may be, but everyone who has ever had

1 Vol. LVI, p. 97. 87

anything to do with it in confinement has paid tribute to what one might call its entertainment value—its ingenuity, its playfulness, and its quite outstanding intelligence.

It is totally unsuited to cage life, but the subject of the accompanying illustration was photographed in an aviary at the London Zoo. Few if any private aviculturists in this country have possessed Keas, with the notable exception of Mr. Sydney Porter, who not only possessed them but bred them as well—a remarkable feat, which took place in 1946, one young one being reared out of the original three hatched.

Mr. Porter gave the parents an enormously varied diet and records in Aviculture:1 ". . . the parents were quite as concerned as I was and they indicated that there was something deficient in their diet. We tried everything, even mealworms and boiled fish, rice pudding, soaked bread, etc. Two young ones had already died before I thought of lettuce; when we supplied this the adults made it plain that this was what they had been waiting for. Four or five whole lettuces a day were eaten, every scrap. This nearly broke the bank, for lettuces at that time were 25. 6d. each ...!"

In addition to the usual parrot diet Keas should be offered grain such as wheat, oats and maize, and particularly such edible roots as carrots, mangels, etc., but not of course raw potatoes. In a wild state they spend much of their time digging with their powerful beaks for edible roots and bulbs, and should be liberally supplied with green-foods and fruit, though they might prove rather less interested in the latter than the former—being by nature chiefly grain, root and green-food eaters.

The most amusing comment on the Kea and the controversy about its carnivorous tendencies came, as one might expect, from the late Duke of Bedford. In his book Parrots and Parrot-like Birds he says: "There is a record of a tame Kea being kept at liberty in England. She associated with the rooks and made no attempt to devour the neighbouring flocks of sheep."

Lilac-Tailed Parrot (Urochrotna batavicd)

This beautiful little parrot, which has hardly ever been seen in Great Britain, is green, brightest on the crown and cheeks with some of the feathers of the back of the neck edged with black. The breast is grey with a bluish tinge; the rump and mantle black; a greenish-blue bar across the wing. The flights are blackish; the under wing-coverts light blue and a suggestion of yellowy-pink on the shoulders; the tail is Mac.

1 Vol. LIII, p. 53.

Total length: 6-4 inches.

Distribution: Venezuela and Trinidad.

Owl Parrot (Stringops hahroptilus)

The upper parts are olive marked with black and buffish in a manner reminiscent of a hen pheasant's plumage. There are some bristles on the cheeks, and the throat is buffish. The flanks and breast are a mixture of buff and olive. The tail is coloured much like that of a hen pheasant, namely brown and yellowish, barred and speckled with black; this being also the colour of the flights.

Total length: 24 inches.

Habitat: New Zealand.

The Owl Parrot has occasionally been exhibited at zoos and, as its name suggests, is nocturnal in habit. It is also flightless, and feeds chiefly on vegetables.

Pesquet's Parrot (Dasyptilus pesqueti)

Almost unknown to aviculture until about forty years ago, this rather odd-looking bird has since then been imported from time to time.

The male is blackish with the upper neck and breast feathers of a browner hue bordered with buffish-brown. The thighs, flanks, abdomen and part of the rump are scarlet as is a tiny patch behind the eye. The face is composed of bare black skin, and perhaps what most gives the bird its odd appearance is its black beak which is shaped rather like that of a vulture.

The female lacks the small scarlet patch behind the eye.

Total length: 20 inches.

Habitat: New Guinea.

Pesquet's Parrot is, and is likely to remain, very scarce in confinement, for although it is said to be both tamable and intelligent, it has a great many disadvantages to counterbalance these virtues: I have never kept one myself, but they are said to be sensitive to cold, to possess and make free use of truly ear-splitting voices, and also to require very special feeding.

They are not really seed-eaters at all, and should be given the sort of diet that suits Lories, such as sweetened bread and milk, nectar, and as generous and varied a supply as possible of sweet ripe fruits.

Pigmy Parrot (Nasiterna pygmara)

The Pigmy Parrot is green washed with brown on the crown and with a touch of blue on the cheeks. The tail is slaty-blue; the centre of the breast streaked with pale tomato-red.

Total length: 3-1 inches.

Habitat: New Guinea.

This truly minute parrot is as small as the tiniest Waxbill and is thought to be largely insectivorous. It is said to have once been imported into Great Britain, but I personally doubt this.

Praslin Parrot [Coracopsis barklyi)

It is easy to distinguish the Praslin Parrot, as it is entirely brown with a brown bill. Total length: 12 inches. Habitat: Praslin, Seychelles. This parrot has very seldom been imported into England.

Purple-Breasted Parrot (Trichria cyanogaster)

The main colour is bright dark green, with the centre of the lower part of the breast vivid purple. There is some slaty-blue in the wings; the tail is green tipped with dark blue.

Total length: 12-2 inches.

Habitat: south-eastern Brazil.

A beautiful parrot which has been brought to Great Britain on very rare occasions.

Racquet-Tailed Parrot (Prioniturus platurus)

Those who prefer pastel shades rather than brilliant colors would, I think, agree that this is one of the most beautiful and unusual of all the parrot family.

It is mainly green and gets its name from the fact that the two central tail feathers have their terminal portion prolonged and web less until the webbing starts again to form a small rounded spatule at the tip. The wings are grey-green with a touch of lilac at the shoulder. There are some flame-colored feathers at the back of the crown and behind these an extensive patch of a delicate lavender blue.

The female lacks the patch of flame color and is almost entirely green.

Length: 13 inches.

Habitat: Celebes.

Although rare, these parrots are by no means unknown to aviculture and have been imported into Great Britain on quite a fair number of occasions. I have never had the good fortune to keep them myself, but those who have done so seem generally agreed that they are "difficult" birds— rather delicate at all times, and particularly so when they first come over.

They should be given the ordinary parrot diet, but apparently even when one has had them for some time they are rather apt to die suddenly for no apparent reason.

Red-Sided Eclectus (Lorius pectoralis)

The various Eclecti are to all intents and purposes parrots so I think they should be included in this book, particularly   as   formerly   they   were   not   infrequently imported, and have recently been successfully bred in Great Britain.

They are one of the very few birds of any kind in which the female is, if anything, even more gorgeous than her mate—a fact which greatly endears them to women, who are usually both shocked and horrified at the comparatively drab appearance of female birds and are in no way mollified if one suggests that this is chiefly nature's way of affording protection to hen birds when they are sitting on their eggs!

The male is brilliant grass green with a large bright red patch on the side of the body and with considerable areas of rich deep blue in the wings and tail. The upper mandible is red tipped with orange.

The female is bright crimson with rich blue in the wings, also in a band of the same colour across the mantle and in a small area round the eye. The sides of the body and the abdomen are purplish-blue and the tail is tipped with reddish-orange. The bill is black.

Total length: 14 inches or a little over; perhaps a trifle larger than a Blue-fronted Amazon.
They inhabit North Queensland in Australia, as well as New Guinea and neighboring islands.

It will be evident that these are rather unusual members of the parrot family, not only because the hen has more showy coloring than her mate, but also because the colors of the two are so totally different that one would never dream that they belonged to the same species. When I say that the hen is more showy than her mate it must not be supposed that the male lags far behind in this respect. Both are extremely beautiful, and to see a pair of these birds sitting side by side provides the eye with a really wonderful feast of color.

Eclecti are not much to be recommended as cage birds, but they seem quite willing to breed in aviaries. There are, however, records of docile and affectionate specimens which did well in a cage as long as they w