The SPARROW PARROT (_Psittacula passerina_) is one of the smallest of
the Brazilian parrots, being scarcely or not at all larger than the
species we have just described. The colour of the plumage is a bright
green, shaded into yellow upon the brow, face, and lower parts. The
under-side of the tail and tail-covers are of a pale bright bluish
green; the anterior border of the wing, the large wing-covers, the back,
and secondary quill-feathers, as well as the inner wing-covers and the
under part of the body, are of a bright ultramarine; the primary quills
are blackish brown, with a green anterior edge. The beak is a bluish
ashy green; the cere somewhat darker; the feet ash grey, with green,
scale-like plates; the eyes brown.
The Sparrow Parrot is very common in Brazil, and inhabits both the
woodlands near the sea-coast and the bushes in dry districts, to which
it is an admirable ornament. These birds come in troops into the gardens
of the settlers like our sparrows, which they also resemble in the fact
that when in company with others of their kind they scream and chatter in
a very confused manner, the united flock producing a shrill twittering
sound. They settle in great numbers upon a tree or shrub to nibble the
fruit, during which time the whole swarm is in unceasing confusion,
climbing nimbly up and down the branches, and whistling briskly. In other
respects the Sparrow Parrot lives after the same manner as the rest of
its relatives, making the same kind of nest, sometimes using the deserted
oven-shaped abode of the Crested Parrot, and laying from three to four
white eggs upon the shreds of wood that cover the bottom of the hole.
Both young and old are often captured by the Brazilians, and seem soon to
forget the loss of their freedom, if they are not separated from their
mates. They are but short lived, and for that reason seldom reach Europe;
still, it occasionally happens that, with great care, they will survive
some years, and even breed in a state of captivity.