Parrots
Parrots
Parrots
CAS
REESE LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
Received
f-<-^^'r\'> -r\
1o 1 ^
THE
NATURALIST'S LIBRARY.
EDITED BY
SIR WILLIAM JARDINE, BART.
F.R.S.E., F.L.S., ETC. ETC.
VOL. X.
(Drnithologg.
PARROTS.
BY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY, ESQ.,
F.R.S.E., F.L.S., M.W.S., ETC,
THE
. i I NTVEKSITY
tl o n o o n :
PAGB
MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK 17
Genus PAL^ORNIS 87
Malacca.Ring-Parrakeet.
Palceornis Malaccensis. Plate III. ... 95
Patagonian Arara.
A rara Patagonica. Plate IV. . . .99
Carolina Arara.
Arara Carelinensis .... . 101
'GB
Noble Parrot- Maccaw.
Psittacara nolilis. Plate VIII. . . . 117
Festive Parrot.
Psittacus festivus. Plate IX 122
Amazons' Parrot.
Psittacus Amazonius 123
Ash-coloured or Grey Parrot.
Psittacus erythacus. Plate X. ., . . 12G
Grand Electus.
Electus grandis 132
Le Vaillant's Pionus.
Pionus Le Vaillantii . . . . .133
Swindern's Love- Bird.
Agapornis Swinderianus. Plate XI. . . 138
Southern Nestor.
Nestor hypopolius. Plate XII. . . . 141
Tricolour-crested Cockatoo.
Stellated. Geringore.
Pesquet's Dasyptilus.
Lusyptilus Pequetti. Plate XVII. . . .160
Purple-capped Lory.
Lorius domicellus. Plate XVIII. . . 16G
Papuan Lory.
C/tarmosyna Papuensis. Plate XIX. . . 169
Plae-bellied Lorikeet.
PAGB
Varied Lorikeet.
Trichoglossus versicolor. Plate XXI. . . 177
Orange-winged Lorikeet.
Trickoglossus pyrrlwpterus. Plate XXII. . . 179
Kuhl's Coriphilus.
Coriphilus Kuhlii. Plate XXIII. ... 184
Sapphire-crowned Psittacule.
Ps-ittaculus galgulus. Plate XXIV. . . 187
Pennantian Broad-tail.
Platycercus Pennantii. Plate XXV. . . 193
Pale-headed Broad-tail.
Platycercus pdliceps. Plate. XX VI. . . 196
Blue-headed Nanodes.
Nanodes venustus. Plate XXVII. . . . 199
Undulated Nanodes.
Nanodes undulatus. Plate XXVIII. . .201
Ground Parrot.
....
.
THOMAS BEWICK
MEMOIR
THOMAS BEWICK,
EMINENT ENGRAVER ON WOOD.
T\
7r, :
f "NIVEliaiTY
ALTHOUGH the Biographical Notices prefixed to
this article, it
appears no more than an act of justice
to offer, in this way, a respectful tribute to his me-
mory.
Though the art of cutting or engraving on wood
is
undoubtedly of high antiquity, as the Chinese and
Indian modes of printing on paper, cotton, and silk,
*
Many of Mr Bewick's blocks have printed upwards of
300,000 : the head-piece of the Newcastle Courant above a
million ;
and a small vignette for a capital letter in the
Newcastle Chronicle, during a period of twenty years, at
least two millions.
MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 91
joint-apprentice.
About this time, Mr Thomas Saint, the printer
guineas.
As it
obviously required much time, as well as
in the In a
regular course of ordinary business.
except one ,
and the whole were beautifully engraved
* " Of Bewick's
powers, the most extraordinary is the
perfect accuracy with which he seizes and transfers to pa-
per the natural objects which it is his delight to draw. His
landscapes are absolute fac-similes; his animals are whole-
length portraits. Other books on natural history have fine
engravings ; but still, neither beast nor bird in them have
any character; dogs and deer, lark and sparrow, have all
airs and countenances marvellously insipid, and of a most
flat similitude. You may buy dear books, but if you want
to know what a bird or quadruped is, to Bewick you must
go at last. It needs only to glance at the works of Bewick,
to convince ourselves with what wonderful felicity the very
countenance and air of his animals are marked and distin-
guished. There is the grave owl, the silly wavering lap.
wing, the pert jay, the impudent over-fed sparrow, the airy
lark, the sleepy-headed gourmand duck, the restless tit-
mouse, the insignificant wren, the clean harmless gull, the
keen rapacious kite every one has his character."
" His
vignettes are just as remarkable. Take his British
Birds, and in the tail-pieces to these volumes vou shall
find the most touching representations of Nature in all her
forms, animate and inanimate. There are the poachers
tracking a hare in the snow; and the urchins who have ac-
" snow-man
complished the creation of a ;" the disap-
32 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.
press.
pointed beggar leaving the gate open for the pigs and poul-
try to march over the good dame's linen, which she is lay-
ing out to dry; the thief who sees devils in every bush a
sketch that Hogarth himself might envy; the strayed in-
fant standing at the horse's heels, and pulling his tail,
while the mother is in an agony flying over the style; the
sportsman who has slipped into the torrent; the blind man
and boy, unconscious of " Keep on this side ;" arid that
best of burlesques on military pomp, the four urchins astride
of gravestones for horses, the first blowing a glass trumpet,
and the others bedizened in tatters, with rush-caps and
wooden swords.
" Nor must we
pass over his sea-side sketches, all inimi-
table. Thecutter chasing the smuggler is it not evident
that they are going at the rate of at least ten knots an hour?
The tired gulls sitting on the waves, every curled head of
which seems big with mischief. What pruning of plumage,
what stalkings, and flappings, and scratchings of the sand,
are depicted in that collection of sea-birds on the shore!
What desolation is there in that sketch of coast after a
storm, with the solitary rock, the ebb-tide, the nrab just
venturing out, and the mast of the sunken vessel standing
up through the treacherous waters What truth and mi-
!
And, last and best, there are his fishing scenes. What
angler's heart but beats whenever the pool-fisher, deep in
the water, his rod bending almost double with the rush of
some tremendous trout or heavy salmon ? Who
does not
" set
recognize his boyish days in the fellow with the rods,'*
sheltering himself from the soaking rain behind an ol<J
tree ? What fisher has not seen yon " old codger," sitting
by the river side, peering over his tackle, and putting on a
brandling ?
MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.
" Bewick's
landscapes, too, are on the same principle
with his animals: they are for the most part portraits, the
result of the keenest and most accurate observation. You
perceive every stone and bunch of grass has had actual
existence his moors are north-country moors, the progeny
:
pensity
~~ by himself to wander
Adown some trotting burn's meander,
And no thinks lang :
ly servile copies
of the drawings sent, executed with
racy in delineation is
perhaps equal to his father's.
The last,
project of Mr Bewick was, to improve
at once the taste and morals of the lower classes,
It
may be observed, that, in the works of the early
MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 37
(First Edition.)
Mr Bewick was a man of warm attachments, par-
It
ticularly to the younger branches of his family.
* In
page 82 of the same volume is the representation of
a cart-horse running away with some affrighted boys, who
had got into the cart while the careless driver was drinking
in a hedge-alehouse. It is observable, that the rapidity of
the cart is finely expressed by the almost total disappear-
ance of the spokes of the wheel ; a circumstance, it is be-
lieved, never before noticed by an artist.
40 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.
*
as look at the old fool, he thinks there's nobody
9
has 'sic bairns as he has. In short,my son and three
daughters do all in their power to make their parents
happy."
Mr Bewick was naturally of the most persevering
and industrious habits. The number of blocks he
*
There is an affecting tail-piece (the final one in his
Fables, 1820), in which he describes
" The End of
All,"
representing his own funeral, with a view of the west end
of Ovingham church, and the two family monuments fixed
in the wail. And it may be interesting also to notice, as
a proof of that family-attachment mentioned in p. 36, that
the tail-piece in p. 162 of his Fables bears the date of his
mother's, and that in p. 176 of his father's death.
" Mr
Through the kindness of Selby of Twizel-
House in Northumberland, I had anticipated the
1
T. Bewick's compliments to Mr Audubon, and will
MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK. 43
like all his works, was exquisite, and more than once
did I feel strongly tempted to ask a rejected bit, but
was prevented by his inviting me up stairs, where,
he said, I should soon meet all the best artists of
Newcastle.
" There I was introduced to the Misses
Bewick,
amiable and affable ladies, who manifested all
anxiety
to render my visit agreeable. Among the visitors I
<
retorted by exclaiming, Hey what a country it is !
life
represented before, from the glutton who pre-
cedes the Great Black-backed Gull, to the youngsters
respects rival or even excel his, but not the less must
publication.
NOTE.
sign ; the white is then cut out, and the black left.
Though this was the method he took with his
pupils, of whom he had constantly a numerous
succession, he had early acquired so ready a facility
himself, that simply with the graver on little, and
often no outline, he worked the design on the blank
block at once. His tools, many of his own contri-
vance and making, were various in sizes and sorts.
Some, broad gouges for wide excavation ; some
narrow, for fine white lines ; and some many-
pointed for parallels, which, either straight or wavy,
he cut with rapidity, by catching the first tooth of
the tool in the last stroke, which guided it equi-
distant with the former. He spoke with great ap-
probation of the graphic talents of his late brother
John ; and repeatedly said, that, had he lived, ha
might have attained to greater eminence than ^
^ :
-
MEMOIR OP THOMAS BEWICK, 55
impaired. A
faint impression therefore, is by no
4
Right seldom seen,
Lovely, lonesome, cool, and green.'
stages of mastication.
"
Yet gentle, generous, and playful as he was,
his personal strength and courage was prodigious :
and notwithstanding his ardent feelings of humanity
towards all animals, particularly dogs, horses, and
strathspeys, and
reels, which failed not to put life
and mettle in the heels of the females and younger
friends, to his glorious delight. Occasionally his
fondling Jane would read Shakspeare to him, or
the delightsome romances of Shakspeare's congener
" Of Lord
Byron's poetry he spoke with great
disgust, saying, it teemed with less imagination, and
more trash, in any quantity, than that of any other
great poet; that power was the prominent feature
of his mind, which he prostituted; and the
great
failing of his heart was depravity, which he adorned.
70 MEMOIR OF THOMAS BEWICK.
He thought the romances of Sir W. Scott breathed
very large and frequent aspirations of the genuine
essence of poetry ; that his landscapes and figures
were spirited and highly coloured painting, and his
real characters the finest specimens of historical
OR
mily.
The fourth is named Loriana, from a group of
portunity of seeing
and studying them in their na-
tive wilds, that it is rapid, elegant, and vigorous,
disposition, with
the exception of one or two forms,
mily, is
analogous to the dentirostral tribe of the In-
sessores, and represents the subtypical group of the
Psittacidce. By Mr Vigors, in the view he lias taken
of the distribution of the Parrots, this
subfamily is
Maccaws properly so called, a group
restricted to the
satisfactorily resolve.
In addition to the true Mac^aws,
the typical form of this subfamily, it appears natu-
though it is
probable that a still further generic sub-
division of this latter group will be required. In
this division, also, we would place the long-tailed
Parrots of the ancient world, forming the genus Pa-
a group whose history and distri-
laeorntSy Vigors,
bution he has traced with such acumen and classic
lore in the pages of the Zoological Journal. With
this group we shall commence our illustrations, as it
is through one of its members, the Palceornis Darra-
r.\l..i:oU\!S KA
Bat v.iband
Ring- Pm
(Tatrsri
OF THE
( UNIVERSITY
OF
89
BARRABAND RING-PARRAKEET.
PLATE I.
and eyes, and the ear- coverts, are clear grass green ;
the upper and under parts of the body are green,
tinged with blue upon the hind head and outer mar-
gins of the quill-feathers. The upper surface of the
tail is
green, the two intermediate feathers about two
inches longer than any of the others, with their ex-
tremities widened and rounded ; under surface of
the wings and tail blackish-brown ; legs black. By
Wagler this bird was removed from the genus Pa-
laeornis, and constitutes his genus Polytelis ; but
as the only character upon which it is established
consists in the slight elongation and slenderness of
the tarsi and toes, we have retained it
among the
BARRABAND RING-PARRAKEET. 91
PLATE II.
commencing
"
Psittacus, Eois imitatrix ales ab oris,
Occidit."
PLATE IIL
-jy
liitherto confounded with the Pal. Pondicerianus,
<>f autliors, and not distinguished by Vigors ;
5. Pal.
Pondicerianus; Pal. barbatus, by other writers a
6.
PLATE IV.
into bluish-
green, the tips of the feathers passing
green. The under surface is greenish- black. The
k?gs and toes are flesh red, tinged with grey.
CAROLINA ARARA.
Arara Carollnensis.
woods are best fitted for them, and there the rich-
ness of their plumage, their beautiful mode of flight,
and even their screams, afford welcome intimation
that our darkest forests and most sequestered
swamps
are not destitute of charms." According to this
long ;
the upper mandible greatly arched, with the
tip long,
and projecting far beyond the under, which
ismassive, and meets the upper at right angles. The
palatine ridge is
very distinct, and the inner surface
of the projecting tips roughened and file like. The
tongue is thick and soft. The wings pretty long
and acuminate. The feet strong, and formed for
grasping ; the claws falcate, the tarsi upon which they
short and thick.
partly rest are In disposition they
are much less docile than the true Parrots, and can
PLATE V.
sions, a guard is
constantly left by the flock in some
elevated station, generally the summit of a tree,
from whence, should danger be apprehended, an
alarm is given by a loud and pecul-ar cry, which is
the ancient
pears to have been a favourite among
Peruvians, as we are told it was frequently presented
to the Incas, by their subjects, as an acceptable gift.
is the
110
PLATE VI.
PLATE VII.
t. 158.
NOBLE PARROT-MACCAW.
Psittacara nobilis.
PLATE VIII.
toos, the head is large, and the face, with some few
PLATE IX.
1' S I T TA C I
T
S I- E S T IV VS.
i-Y stive }';\:
(UNIVERSITY )
FESTIVE PARROT. 123
AMAZONS' PARROT.
Psittacus Amazonius AUCTORUM.
the inner webs with their bases and tips yellow, the
middle part being green : the next is distinguished
PLATE X.
tstances,
of what had previously been taught them
by frequent repetition, to articulate by rote.
regarded u
75
slightly aberrant forms of the genus
Psittacus, must depend upon a strict analysis of all
GRAND ELECTUS.
Electus grandis. WAGLER.
mage, it
approaches the larger lories, a resemblance
also indicated by the name given to it
by Latham
and others. The bill is black, with the culmen of
the upper mandible rounded ; the nostrils placed at
the base of the bill, and concealed from view ; the
yellow.
The next group indicated by Wagler is that of
LE VAILLANT'S PIONUS.
the report of a gun, the whole flock fly off with the
they fly
off in pairs, each pair retiring to its
peculiar
roost, where they rest till
morning.
The bill is large, the culmen biangulate, the to-
miae sinuated, but not distinctly toothed ; its colour
whitish. The head, neck, and breast are of an olive
green colour, deepest upon the forehead and crown ;
Agapornis Swinderianus.
PLATE XL
and even at the end, the tips of the shafts bare, and
slightly projecting beyond the feathered part. The
the
following plate represents
PLATE 12.
^at. iiand
141
SOUTHERN NESTOR
PLATE XII.
TRICOLOUR-CRESTED COCKATOO
PLATE XIII.
TLYCTOLOJ'HUS LEAJHiEATElU.
Trirolour-ri rsird Cockatoo
Society ;
and as its habits are presumed to resemble
in manyrespects those of the other species, we quote
their observations, as extracted from M.
Caley's
" This bird is called
Notes. by the natives Car- away
and Cur-iang. I have often met with it in large
flocks at the influx of theGrose and the Hawkes-
bury Rivers, below Mulgo'ey on the former river,
and in the long meadow near the Nepean River.
They are shy, and not easily approached. The flesh
of the young ones is accounted good eating. I have
148 TRICOLOUR-CRESTED COCKATOO.
PLATE XIV.
THIS species we
frequently see in confinement ;
forthough rarely able to articulate more than a fev
trils
large, round, lateral, placed behind the corneous
base of the bill ; wings ample, rounded, the second,
third, fourth, and fifth quills the longest, and nearly
-ITY
SlfiLLATED GERINGORE.
PLATE XV.
it as a
separate species, and it ought to be retained
as such, unless extended observation and well authen-
ticated facts prove it a mere variety, or some parti-
cular state of plumage, of another species, arising
from age or sex. In it the typical form of the bill
is
prominently marked, the outline or perspective
contour forming nearly a semicircle, the depth at the
base, as may be seen in the figure, is very great, and
PLATE XVI.
tial
parts of its history, viz. its habits and peculiar
economy, which the unusual form of the tongue and
other modifications of character would intimate to he
Natu c oi PaM
GOLIAH ARATOO. 159
PESQUET'S DASYPTILUS.
PLATE XVII.
mandible, which is
lengthened arid less convex in its
among its
typical forms, and included among these,
or at least in very close connexion, are the birds be-
PURPLE-CAPPED LORY.
Lorius domicellus.
PLATE XVIII.
position,
and fond of being caressed. In size it is
amongst the largest of the group, measuring upwards
of 11 inches in length. The general or ground co-
lour of the plumage is rich scarlet, this tint occupy-
TLATE XIX.
Blue Id3
v.,-. ,, ., ~P v..,,. ;
BLUE-BELLIED LOKIKEET.
PLATE XX.
by Mr
Caley being shewn a figure of a coloured
plant,used to put its tongue to the flowers, as if
with the intent of sucking them, and this it even did
when shewn a figured piece of cotton furniture. By
the natives it iscalled War-rin ; the settlers call it
upon the lower part of the throat they are more in-
clined to lavender purple, and lose the rigid and su-
bulate character ; nuchal collar yellowish or vivid silken
VARIED LORIKEET.
Trichofflossus versicolor.
PLATE XXI.
:
II SIT Y
J
ORANGE- WINGED LORIKEET.
PLATE XXII.
KUHL'S COR1PHILUS.
PLATE XXIII.
Xubl'f,
Coriphihi-j.
KUHI/S CORIPHILUS. 185
,,<^!1P%
{ \IVEESITY
1
SAPPHIRE-CROWNED PSITTACULE.
Psittaculus galgulus.-<>WAGLER.
PLATE XXIV.
elusive ;
for ourselves, we have not had an opportu
Illig.),
the beautiful miniature Maccaw-looking spe-
cies belonging to the genus Nanodes, Vigors, the
two species composing Wagler's genus Nymphicus,
represented by the Psitt. sisetis and Psitt. Nova
Hollandice of authors, arid some other forms, among
which, perhaps, ,the PsittacuS Platurus of Tem-
minck's " Planches Colories" may be included, en-
.ter into it. Those interesting species which inhabit
Madagascar, and known by the name of Vaeas, viz.
Psitt. niger and Psitt. mascarinus, Linn., forming
PENNANTIAN BROAD-TAIL.
PLATE XXV.
PALE-HEADED BROADTAIL.
Platycercus palliceps.
PLATE XXVI.
ing characters :
higher than long, the
Bill short,
BLUE-BANDED NANODES.
PLATE XX VII.
Nanodes venustus, Vig. et Horsf. Linn. Trans, b. 15, p. 278.
Euphemia chrysostoma, Wag. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand.
$c., p. 492 and 544, No. 2 Psitt. chrysostomos, Kuhl,
UNDULATED NANODES.
Nanodes undulatus VIG. et HORSP.
PLATE XXVIII.
^/FORNIA^
GROUND PARROT.
PLATE XXIX.
is
very rarely seen perched, and when flushed, Mr
Caley observes, takes a short flight, and then alights
among the bushes, but never upon them. Of its
mode of nidification, and other matters connected
with its history, we are unable to give any further
account.
.PLATE XXX.
inland.
KED-CHEEKED NYMPHICUS. 207
BIOGRAPHICAL
MEMOIK OF DAUBENTON.
BY
f >
r ^
others.
perfect success.
But if truth had not been the foundation of his un-
dertaking ;
if he had lavished the brilliant colours of
his palette on incorrect or unfaithful drawings, and had
combined only imaginary facts, he might indeed have
appeared as an elegant writer or ingenious poet, but he
would not have been a naturalist, and he could not have
aspired to the object at which his ambition aimed, that
of being a reformer in science.
It was necessary, therefore, that every thing should
be reviewed, collected, and observed it was
necessary
;
self, but also by his own example the only rule he had
;
* Madame de Pompadour.
MEMOIR OF DAUBENTON. 203
the work that contained them, and for the sole reason
that it did contain them, the names of work of gold, a
work truly classical ; they regarded with indifference
the author at Paris : and some of those flatterers, who
creep before renown as before power, because renown is
;w
was preserved ai
r
Garde : meuble, as the bone of a giant's
;leg. He perceived, by means of comparative anatomy,
J
was the, bone, of a Giraffe, although he had
.that this,
.
never seen that animal, and no figure of its skeleton
*
JEJis papers jOn the various subjects referred to, will be
found in the Memoires de VAcademic des Sciences.
208 51EMOIR OF DAtBENTOff.
worthy of himself.
To show, in the clearest manner, the advantage of
always keeping sheep in parks to demonstrate the per-
;
portant subject.
Almost at every public sitting of the Academy he
gave an account of his researches, and often obtained
more applause from the gratitude of his assistants, than
his associates received for the most difficult discoveries
but whose utility was less obvious.
MEMOIR OF DA-UBENTON, 211
way, and did all -that- was possible with th& means he
1
possessed;
He acquired, by these means a j
Mad of popular re-
man.
this venerable old
to teach
systematically some body of doctrine ; such are
two Encyclopaedias, particularly the
his articles for the
deprived of them.
These didactic writings^ are remarkable for their great
clearness, sound principles, and a scrupulous attention-
to avoid every thing that is doubtful ; onlywe are sur-
prised to* see, that the same individual who declaimed
with such vigour against any kind of method in natu-
ral history, should have finished by adopting methods
have of mankind.
216 MEMOIR OF DAUBENTON,
from others, at all periods of his life, and under all suc-
cessive governments.
He
has been blamed for having received honours
quired it of him.
THE
IVElisi
r
-/
?
ILOCKED
CASE
&
BIOLOGY
LIBRARY
G
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
LIBRARY