Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/210

Rh erythacus, .), as that species is the most renowned for its powers of imitative speech, and is the most commonly kept in captivity. We shall illustrate the Family, however, by a genus of ancient renown.

The Ring Parroquets, as the birds of this genus are termed, are distinguished by having the beak rather thick; the upper mandible dilated, the upper part (culmen) round; the lower mandible broad, short, and notched on the margin. The wings are moderate; the first three quills nearly equal, and longest; the outer webs of the second, third, and fourth, gradually broader in the middle. The tail is graduated; that is, the feathers diminish in length from the centre outward; the middle pair much exceed the rest in length, and are very slender. The feet are short and weak, the claws rather slender, and hooked. The general form is taper and elegant, the plumage smooth and silky: the ground-colour is usually green, sometimes merging into yellow; the neck is marked with a narrow line running round it like a collar.

The accounts we find in the ancient Greek authors, of Parrots known to them, refer to some species of this beautiful genus, as we gather from their descriptions. Some three or four kinds they appear to have been familiar with, which were first introduced into Europe at the time of the conquest of India by Alexander the Great, and one of which has been named in commemoration of him, Palæornis Alexandri. In their native