Читать книгу The Natural History of Cage Birds - Bechstein Johann Matthäus - Страница 58

Psittacus autumnalis, Linnæus; Le Crick à tête bleue, Buffon; Der Herbstkrickpapagey, Bechstein

This is about the size of a pigeon. The beak is horn colour, with a long streak of orange on each side of the upper mandible; the whole circle of the head and the throat are blue; the top of the head and under part of the neck to the breast are red; the rest of the body is green, except the large quill-feathers, which are blue; some, however, are red, with a blue tip.

Varieties.– 1. The head, instead of being red and blue, is red and white.

2. The forehead scarlet, the top of the head blue, an orange spot under the eyes, the upper border of the wings light yellow.

3. Forehead and throat red behind, and under the eyes blue, the top of the head greenish yellow, the lower border of the wings red, the end of the tail pale light yellow.

4. All the body blackish except the breast, the feathers of which are edged with dark brown and red.

Observations. – These birds inhabit Guinea, learn very little, and continually cry “guirr, guirr.”