Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/133

 PAROQUET 123 the pass of Khawak on the east to the peak of Koh-i-baba on the west ; and it is also ap- plied to the more northerly of the two branch- es into which the main range divides still fur- ther westward. Many of the best classicists believe the name to have been used for the whole chain now known as the Hindoo Koosh, and some receive it as the designation of all the mountain group between the Caucasus and the Himalaya. PAROQUET, or Parrakeet, the common name of many old-world parrots of the subfamily pezoporincB. They all have a moderate bill, Crested Paroquet (Nymphicus Novae Hoflandte). a. Head, with crest erect. &. Tail spread. the tail long, broad, and more or less gradua- ted, with the ends of the feathers narrowed, the tarsi generally high and slender, and the claws nearly straight, enabling them to walk upon the ground more easily than the other subfamilies. In the Australian genus nym- pJiicus (Wagl.) the bill is strongly dentated, the wings and tail very long, the two middle feathers of the latter prolonged and pointed, and the tarsi stout. The crested paroquet (N. Nova Hollandia, Wagl.) is of an elegant form and grayish color, with the sides and top of the head bright yellow, a reddish orange spot below the eye, and a handsome yellow crest like that of the lapwing ; they are migratory, at times collecting in large flocks, and much upon the ground picking up seeds and grains ; they breed in holes in gum trees (eucalypti) in the neighborhood of water, depositing five or six eggs. The broad-tailed paroquets (platycer- cus, Vig.) of Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea, are very elegant, graceful, and lively, with diminished powers of flight and climbing and more activity upon the ground; the bill is short and curved, with obtuse tip and sides very slightly if at all dentated ; the wings mod- erate, and the tail broad and long. They are usually seen in flocks upon the ground, and sometimes do much damage both to the newly sown and ripening maize and wheat. The nonpareil paroquet (P. eximius^ Shaw) is one of the handsomest of the family, having the head, neck, and breast scarlet, wings mazarine blue, throat and abdomen yellowish white, back undulated with blackish and yellowish green, and tail blue. More than 30 other species of this genus are described. The ground paroquet (pezoporus, Illig.) is the most terrestrial of the family, as evinced by the greater elongation of the tarsi and toes, the straighter claws, and the less depressed and more pointed tail. The P. formosus (Illig.) inhabits the bushy districts of Australia ; it is about a foot long, of a live- ly green color, varied and barred with black and yellow ; it lives entirely upon the ground, where it runs with great speed. Among the handsomest of the subfamily are the ringed paroquets (palceornis, Vig.), which have a short rounded bill, sharp-pointed, and the tail long and graduated, the two middle feathers long- est ; they are remarkable for the elegance of their form, their docility, and powers of imita- tion ; most of the species are found in India and its archipelago, and may be known by the collar-like ring around the neck. The Alex- andrine paroquet (P. Alexandri, Vig.) was so named from the supposition that it was the one brought to Europe by Alexander the Great ; it is about 15 in. long, green above, paler or Alexandrine Paroquet (Palseornis Alexandri). yellower below ; across each shoulder is a pur- plish red patch ; a black band from the low- er mandible descends and passes backward so as almost to encircle the neck, growing nar- rowest behind, where there is a red collar be- coming narrowest in front; the bill reddish. This bird was well known to the Greeks and Romans, who kept it in highly ornamented cages ; it is mentioned by Aristotle and Pliny, and Ovid has described it in one of his most beautiful elegies (on the death of Corinna's parrot). There are about a dozen other spe- cies in India, associating in flocks, and ofter