Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE CUCKOO-LIKE BIRDS

THE PARROTS

African Parrots

As the other American representatives of this group offer nothing of particular interest, being but little known in a wild state, we may pass to a brief consideration of the African genus (Poiocephalus). These are rather small birds, mostly considerably under twelve inches in length, having a very deep bill with the lower mandible much deeper than long, and are divided into two groups, in one of which the general color is green and in the other brown.

To the latter belongs RiippelPs Parrot (P. rueppelli) of Benguela and Damara Land, in which the general color both above and below is smoky brown, with the sides of the head grayish and the bend of the wings and under wing-coverts yellow; the length is about eight and a half inches. Mr. Andersson states that in Damara Land this species is common, being”always met wTith in small flocks of about half a dozen individuals, and seems to prefer the larger kinds of trees.

It is rather shy, and when quietly perched amongst the branches is very difficult to perceive, until its presence is betrayed by the cries it utters as soon as it conceives itself to be in danger. It is rarely found far from water, which it usually frequents twice a day. It feeds on seeds and berries, sometimes also on the young shoots of trees and plants."

The next group, comprising the Gray and Black Short-tailed Parrots, is a small one, embracing only three genera and nine or ten species, all but one of which are natives of Africa or Madagascar, the exception being a resident of New Guinea. They are much larger than those just considered, ranging from twelve to twenty inches in length, and may be known by the prevailing gray or black color of the plumage, with or without a minor element of red. The cere is broad and surrounds the base of the upper mandible, but is narrower below the nostrils, and the latter are not surrounded by a swelling of the cere.

The sides of the head are more or less naked, the wings moderately long, and the tail square or rounded and about half the length of the wing. In the African genus Psiltacus the sides of the head for the greater portion are naked and covered with papillae. The best-known member of the genus, and for that matter perhaps of the entire suborder, is the Common Gray Parrot (P. erithacus), which ranges from Senegambia to equatorial Africa in a wild state, but which has been known in Europe and other parts of the world for hundreds of years as a cage bird. While perhaps too familiar to need description, the Gray Parrot may be briefly described as ash-colored, becoming much lighter on rump and abdomen, while the primaries are blackish, with a gray tinge toward the base, and the tail, with its upper and under coverts, red; the total length is about thirteen inches. This bird is probably the most accomplished talker of the whole group of Parrots, and, did space permit, a whole chapter might be filled with circumstantial accounts of its accomplishments.”

Contrary to what prevails among higher bipeds, the male is commonly the more valuable and fluent speaker of the two, although the female pronounces her words more distinctly.”Curiously enough, neither of the other species in this genus is known to be talkative, so this attainment is purely individual, which does not seem to be the case with the American Amazons.

The Gray Parrot, and in fact all the Parrots, are very long-lived, there being authentic accounts of their living from fifty to eighty years. In a wild state this species is more or less sociable, feeding and even breeding in small companies.

 

 

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