Psittacus collaria, Lnn. Synonyms: Chrysotis collaria, Gr.; C. Amazonica, Fnsch.;

Psittacus leucocephalus var. B, WglR.

German: Der Jamaïka Amazone.

French: Perroquet de la Martinique.

THIS little bird is one of the smaller members of the genus Chrysotis, and a native of Jamaica, where at one time it was very abundant, but is now found in yearly decreasing numbers. It was known to and described by Linnaeus; and is yet to be met with occasionally in the dealers' shops on the continent of Europe, as well as in this country, where it is priced at from fifteen to twenty shillings; although a trained and talking specimen would necessarily command a larger sum, and sometimes it can be obtained for less than the former.

Of its slinqnistic attainments we are not able to report favourably; the various specimens that have come under our notice from time to time not having attained to any very great degree of proficiency in the art of imitating the human voice; although domestic sounds, such as the cackling of hens, quacking of ducks, and the cooing of pigeons were rendered by one of these birds with extraordinary fidelity.

Dr. Buss is of the same opinion in this respect, and credits Chrysotis collaria with small capacity for learning to speak, although he commends it as "teachable" (gelehrig).

It is very destructive to the fruit crops, especially to the oranges, in its native island; hence a war of extermination is waged against it by the inhabitants, which must eventually end in its extermination as a species, unless it could be perpetuated in a state of domesticity. In the house it is best dieted on boiled maize and hemp seed, with an occasional tit-bit in the shape of some ripe fruit, or a morsel of sweet cake or biscuit; but animal food should be strictly prohibited.

This bird has been frequently confounded with its congener, Chrysotis leucocephala, from the adjacent island of Cuba, from which nevertheless it differs in several material points. The general colour of the body is grass green, the feathers not presenting the deep black edging common to many members of the genus, and especially noticeable in the Cuban bird; the forehead and lores are white; the top of the head blue or bluish green; the sides of the head, the throat, and sometimes, but not always, the back of the neck ruby red; the upper tail coverts are greenish yellow; the base of the tail feathers with the exception of the central pair, which are wholly green, is scarlet; the beak is yellowish horn-colour, the cere greyish white, the legs and feet brownish yellow, and the belly greenish yellow.

It measures from twelve to thirteen inches in length, of which the tail occupies about four inches; the wings are short, and the bird by no means a strong flyer; a circumstance that favours its destruction by the negroes, with whose oranges and bananas it takes unwarrantable liberties, which Sambo and Quashie naturally resent, and turn the tables on poor Collaria, by trapping and making her into a stew, and feasting off her small but plump carcase; or selling her into captivity for the remainder of her days.

This species was first received by the London Zoological Society in 1869; since which date several individuals have been added to the collection, the last in 1881.

As will be seen by the plate it is a handsome bird, and has the further recommendation of being hardy and not noisy. Two of these Parrots which we had under observation for some time were very tame, and showed every inclination to breed, but were, unfortunately, not in circumstances that admitted of their doing so with any prospect of success. There is little doubt, however, that favourably situated, they would breed, and doubtless rear their young to maturity. The eggs are usually three in number, about the size of those of a small Pigeon, and are laid on the bare wood; no attempt at lining or furnishing the nest cavity being made.

It is said by several writers that the young are usually fed on fruit, particularly bananas, with which they can also be readily hand-reared if taken before their eyes are open, in which case they become very tame. The modus operandi is as follows: - "Sambo, or Dinah, as the case may be, chews a piece of banana to a pulp, and then putting the beak of the young bird into his or her mouth, forces the prepared food into its throat with the tongue." Whether a European would care to perform the same operation is doubtful, but numbers of young Parrots are annually thus brought up by the negro inhabitants of the various West Indian Islands, who are not as fastidious in many respects as we are.

Though undoubtedly mischievous, it seems a pity that these interesting birds should be sooner or later doomed to extinction; for whether clambering among the dark green foliage of the orange trees, clinging to the purple or yellow bunches of bananas, or making a reconnoisance among the crops of maize, they add materially to the animation as well as to the beauty and picturesqueness of the scene they grace with their presence; but it is doubtful, to say the least, whether their various good points are appreciated by the owners of the several crops mentioned; and possibly were we in a position to change places with the owners in question (which a kind Heaven forfend!), we should be of their way of thinking; for we feel vexed with our own saucy sparrows, when we find a mob of them devastating a bed of crocuses or of primroses; or busily engaged in scratching up the seed which the gardener has just planted on the lawn.

It is a case of every one for himself, we are afraid, in which the weakest must go to the wall sooner or later. The Dodo has disappeared, also the Great Auk, not to speak of the Dinornis and the Moa. The Phillip Island Parrot is also probably extinct, while the Curious-toothed Pigeon (C. strigirostris), the Great Ground Parrot of New Zealand, and many others have either passed, or are on the point of passing away from the familiar scenes they once haunted in peace and security; and which, in a few short years at the latest, will know them again no more for ever. Yet the world jogs on in its accustomed path, and no one, except a few old fogies, will even give vent to a sigh of regret for the irrecoverable loss of a whole race of fellow-creatures; which no doubt once had a role to fulfil, and having fulfilled it, were bound to disappear from the stage of existence, and make room for others, that doubtless will in the course of time be fain to follow in their footsteps.

Be that as it may, it is probably hopeless to expect that legislative enactments will at least postpone the extinction of some of the threatened races in this and the other hemisphere; for vested interests take little note of legal restrictions that are not enforced by heavier penalties than obtain, say in the case of our Wild Bird Protection Acts, at which our professional bird-catchers simply snap their fingers and laugh; spreading their nets in defiance of the law, and taking birds by the thousand, we might indeed say by the million, from the 1st. of January to the 31st. of December. What is every person's business is usually nobody's, and so the slaughter (for to trap the poor creatures in the summer-time is tantamount to killing them) goes on; and fanciers wonder why their favourites have become so scarce; or have even vanished altogether from scenes where they once abounded.

No, there seems no help for it. Man, be he pale-faced, or black-raced, is lord paramount over the creation, it would appear; and woe betide the creature that sets itself in antagonism to him, or, which amounts to the same thing, he imagines takes up such a position in his regard. He has no pity where his selfish interests are concerned, and takes no notice of any feelings but his own in the matter. "Those rascally Parrots", for instance, he will say, "suck my oranges, and I shoot them." "If you do so at every season of the year", we reply, "there will soon be none of them left to damage your property, or anybody else's"; "and a good job, too", he answers, viciously; whereupon we retire from the contest, feeling that to spend more time talking with such a person would amount to little less than a crime, be an utter folly at all events; and so the White-fronted Parrots must be left to take what care they can of themselves.

There is one little shred of hope, one little crumb of comfort, left to us after all. The Parrots are quite as wise in their generation as our own Hooks, or the Great White Cockatoos of the Australian continent; and when about to descend, be it on a fruit or a maize crop, are cunning enough to post sentries on the tree tops round the scene of their marauding expedition, which sentinels give the signal on the slightest suspicion of danger; when the whole flock rise at once into the air, with deafening clamour, in the case of the Cockatoos; and with the loudest and shrillest cries they are capable of uttering in that of the Jamaica Parrots, and hie them away with what speed they may to safer quarters; returning when the threatened peril has passed to finish their interrupted banquet.

Persecution has undoubtedly sharpened the wits of many threatened races, and postponed for an indefinite period, if it has not altogether averted, the day when the last member of them shall follow his companions to that bourne from which nor bird, nor beast, nor man himself has ever yet returned. Parrots, like Rooks, soon learn to "smell powder", as country people say; to recognise the lethal weapon at all events that deals death among them from a distance, they seem also to have learned to measure; for we have often noticed, when in Australia, that the Cockatoos, Lemon-crested, or Long-billed, never attempted to rise until we were almost within gunshot, when the sentinels would give the alarm; and the flock obeying the signal, would hurry away without the loss of a feather, screaming in terrified response to the report of our double-barrelled gun.

There are of course still mountain fastnesses and inaccessible ravines even in Jamaica, where the persecuted White-fronted Parrots find a safe asylum in which to bring up their broods; and as long as such exist there will be no danger of the extinction of the race; but as the island becomes more and more densely populated, Collaria must of necessity be driven further and further back with the advance of cultivation, and finally disappear. May that day be far distant, for she is a nice bird, and if not talkative, tame and gentle, and has many pretty little ways that endear her to those into whose custody she has chanced to pass.

Dr. Russ asserts that these birds make their nests in holes in trees, and lay four eggs (in Baumhöhlen nisten und vier Eier legen soll); but three is, by other observers, asserted to be the usual number; And we have not heard of more than the latter complement having been laid in captivity, in which no young have, to our knowledge, been produced as yet.

There is very little difference in the colouring or outward appearance of the sexes; the male is, perhaps, a trifle larger than his mate, and has the red throat of a brighter shade; but the resemblance is so close that it is difficult to say of a given bird, or even a couple of birds, whether they are cocks or hens; for two of either sex will caress and feed each other when kept together, as freely and as affectionately as if they were a real pair.

They quarrel sometimes, it is true; and if these domestic squabbles are of frequent occurrence, and one of the two birds is always the aggressor, the connoisseur may be certain that they are really a pair, that the quarrelsome party is the female, and the quiet one the male; for, except during the breeding season, the hen birds invariably have the best of it, and drive their "lords and masters" about in the most uncompromising manner; yet, strange to relate, when spring, or instinct, or call it "love", has turned their thoughts into another channel, they become submissive and affectionate wives. But this meekness only lasts for a comparatively short time, and when domestic duties are at an end, Monsieur has to be on his good behaviour, and take care of himself again, as well as he is able.

In the wild state he simply flies away, joins a flock of good fellows of his own sex, and leaves Madame to shift for herself; sometimes returning to her in the spring, and sometimes solacing himself with another partner. True some kinds of birds pair for life, but Collaria does not appear to be one of them, for which reason it will be as well to separate the ill-assorted pair as soon as it is observed that the female, instead of submitting gratefully to his attentions, commences to peck at her lord, and drive him about the aviary or cage; for we have known cases in which the male has been so persecuted that he has been unable to feed, and become so weak at last he could not stand.

It is said that a captive bird of this species, whether male or female, will at once take charge of a young bird of the same kind, and feed and nurse it until it is able to provide for itself; but we have no personal knowledge of the fact, although judging from what we know of similar acts of kindness performed by many birds towards the helpless of their own and kindred races, we do not think it is at all improbable; and if any of our readers are cognisant of such attentions having been rendered by their birds to others, we shall be glad to hear from them, and record the fact in the Appendix, with which at some future date we propose to conclude this work.

Crescendo vires! we gain knowledge as we proceed, and many facts have kindly been brought to our notice by correspondents since we began Parrots in Captivity, of which we shall be only too glad to avail ourselves when an opportunity for so doing is presented to us.

In conclusion we cannot, we think, do better than commend Chrysotis collaria to our readers as a very desirable pet; from whom, nevertheless, too much must not be expected in the matter of speech.