Psittacus cyanocephalus, Russ. Synonyms: Palceornis rosa, Paloeornis erythrocephalus bongalensis, Gld.;

Paloeornis ginginianus; Paloeornis rhodocephialus, Shw. Paloeornis bcngalensis, Vgrs., etc.

German: Der Pflaumenkopfsittich.

BLOSSOM -HEADED PARRAKEET.

French: Perruche a tete bleue, Brss.

Of all the old world Parrots this is, without exception, the most elegantly formed, the most beautiful, docile, and desirable: the Lories may be dressed in more gorgeous attire, and be as tame and gentle, and of disposition as affectionate and mild, but they are difficult to preserve in health, and have not as yet frequently reproduced their kind in captivity, whereas the Blossom- or Plum-head yields to none of them in estimable qualities, and has the farther advantage of being extremely hardy, albeit a native of "the gorgeous East", and of actually having proved itself as ready to breed in the aviary as any of the Grass Parrakeets of Australia: Dr. Buss and other amateurs having bred these birds to the third and even fourth generation in their aviaries.

The late Mr. Gould was of opinion that there are two distinct species of Blossom-headed Parrakeets, one of which, coming from Ceylon, India, and especially from the Himalayan Mountains in the latter country, he named Paloeornis rosa; and the other, or Burmese Blossom-head, Paloeornis erythrocephalus, he found extending from Burmah into China, which was a larger bird than the former, with paler colours and a dull red wing spot: but it seems a pity to multiply species in a case like this, where the slight differences that exist are more of climatic and local origin than really specific; we have accordingly declined to subscribe to Mr. Gould's decision, and consider the Blossom-heads, whether Indian or Burmese, to be one and the same species.

The Blossom-head is a pretty bright green bird, about the size of the Lesser Ring-necked, but of even more slender and elegant build: the head, as the English name indicates, is of a delicate plum colour, that is to say red shaded with blue, fainter on the cheeks than on the occiput and nape. The black stripes extending from the mandibles are continued as a collar round the neck, the top of the wing is marked by a red spot, and the under wing coverts are verditer blue.

The adult females want the black colour, which, in their case, is replaced by a ring, or necklet of pale yellow, the head is rather lilac or blue-grey than plum colour, and the tips of the tail feathers are yellow.

In both sexes the upper mandible is yellow, but the lower a dusky horn colour.

The young hare the top of the head dull green, rather of a darker shade than the back, contrasting with the latter, and indicating where the cap will be: both mandibles are wax-yellow, and they have no wing-spot.

The call is not unmelodious, and they have an agreeable kind of song; the food should bo seeds of all kinds, rice boiled soft, but not pulpy, a little yolk of egg, fruit and mealworms being added if it be desired to attempt to breed them. Figs, too, they are very fond of. They are very hardy, and seldom ail anything, and with common care they will live for many years in the house, in full enjoyment of health, and in perfection of plumage.

Their habits are lively, and they show to much better advantage in a large aviary than in a cage, but will not become as familiar in comparative liberty, as they do when kept in closer quarters: so that if it be desired to tame one of them, a young male had better be selected, and he will be found to be everything that a pet bird should be.

Of all the Paloeornes we much prefer the subject of the present notice, which is, in every sense of the word, a nice bird, and only requires to better known to be appreciated as he deserves.

This charming bird was described under the name of the Cardinal Parrot, der Kardinal Sittich, towards the close of the last century, by Bechstein, who enumerated three "varieties", which, properly speaking, were one and the same bird in different stages of development.

The same author gives "his Eminence" but an indifferent character for intelligence. "This Parrakeet", says the ancient one (Der alte), "so easily distinguished by its plumage, is lively, fearful, and its cry is frequent. It learns nothing of itself, and it is with great difficulty that it can be made to repeat a few words", which is surely a libel on an interesting and most desirable bird.

It is a pity the Blossom-headed Parrakeet should be so seldom imported, and consequently expensive; though now and then a large consignment arrives, such as was received, according to Dr. Buss, in the year 1876, when four hundred head were to be seen at the same time in the shop of Gaetano Alpi of Triest, but were, strange to say, all females.

When first imported these beautiful birds are rather delicate, for their Indian captors fed them on rice in the husk, which is rarely to be obtained in this country, and the sudden change to our English seeds, together with the transition from a warm to a comparatively cold climate, too often prove fatal: once acclimatised, however, they are hardy enough, and, as we have said, breed very freely in the aviary.

Writing of this species, Mr. Gedney says: "I can bear personal testimony to their strong attachment to their owner, for I had a bird of this species given me recently, but he was inconsolable at the change, and made such a hideous noise that, after a week's trial, I sent him home again, much to his delight."

Mr. Wiener's opinion of the Blossom-headed Parrakeet is that he is "gentle but not particularly talented."

Dr. Buss's testimony to the attractive qualities of this bird is strong, and expressed in the following terms: "Unter alien diesen oder vielmehr unter alien Papageien uberhaupt einer der schonsten, anmuthigsten and liebenswurdigsten", (Among all these, or rather among all the Parrots in general, this is one of the most beautiful, most charming, and most worthy of being loved,) an enconium of which we endorse every word.

No one who has only seen a Paloeornis in a cage, where certainly it does not show to much advantage, can form any idea of the gracefulness and agility of the same bird on the wing; whether rising in a gradually expanding spiral towards the clouds, flitting among the boughs that are scarcely more vividly green than his beautifully tinted coat, or darting, swift as an arrow from a bow, straight before him into space. Even at comparative liberty in a good-sized aviary, he appears a different bird to the pensive captive chained to a stand or ring, or sitting "like patience on a monument" on the topmost perch in a bell-shaped cage, or like the man with the "muck-rake" in Bunyan's immortal allegory, groping with bedraggled tail at the bottom of his enforced domicile.

"Never keep a Parrot in a cage", was the advice given to us long ago, by an esteemed and ancient friend, who was a keen lover of nature and all animated things - "If you can help it" we replied, but our friend shook his head, "Never keep one at all, if you cannot keep it properly."

The Hon. And Rev. F. G. Duttotn's Account Of The Blossom-Headed Parrakeet (Palaeornis Erythrocephalus)

This is a charming Parrakeet, if it Has been properly tamed: lovely, affectionate, and not, I think, unbearably noisy. I can bear a certain amount of noise, if it is not startling, and though the Blossom-head must be banished from the room, or covered up, when you want to talk with any one, yet it does not surprise one with a sudden shriek, like the Javan Parrakeet, nor does its screaming reach the unbearable pitch to which the Bengal's attains.

The cock birds are often taught to say a few sentences and to whistle tunes. No doubt they are much rarer in India than the Bengal Parrakeet, or one would think the soldiers would rear them in preference to the Bengals.

I had a pair which always nested every year in a cage twenty-four inches by eighteen inches. The hen bird always ruled the establishment, and led the cock a very hen-pecked life, till the breeding season came on, when he asserted his superiority. She laid in April, and varied between five eggs and two. She laid every third night. Nothing would induce her to go into the square mahogany box which was made for a nest, so I had the bough of a willow sawn in half, scooped out, made to shut with hinges, and a hole made in the side. This was then hitched on to the cage, where she laid. I put in saw-dust, but she would have nothing to say to it, and threw out every morsel, laying her eggs on the bare wood. I kept them in the dining-room, and her extreme greediness prevented the first nest coming to anything. Every time any one came into the room, she left her nest to see what she could get to eat. The next year I had them in my own room with no better result. The third year I put them into an empty room, and she hatched one egg. But at that moment the servants took advantage of my absence to have the chimney swept, and she forsook her nest. After this I lost the cock, so my breeding experiments came to an end.

The cock bird was fond of washing, but the hen did not seem to care about it. She was much the least tame and the least attractive of the two.

If any one should have a preference for Parrakeets over Parrots, and should have the opportunity of buying a tame and well-taught Blossom-head, I can confidently recommend them to make the purchase.