_Psittacus agilis._
_Psittacus agilis_, +Gmel.+—Le Vaill. Perr. 105.
? _Psittacus æstivus_, var. α. +Lath.+ Syn.
? ” ” var. δ. Ibid.
[76] Length 13¹⁄₄ inches, expanse 20¹⁄₄, flexure 6⁴⁄₁₀, tail 3¹⁄₄,
rictus ⁸⁄₁₀, tarsus ⁹⁄₁₀, middle toe 1²⁄₁₀. Irides dark hazel: cere
blackish ash-colour.
All the Parrots are gregarious, cunning, watchful, noisy, mischievous;
and thus are like the Monkeys. This and the following species are so
much alike in manners and general appearance, that a description of one
applies nearly to the other. Flocks varying from half-a-dozen to twenty
or thirty, fly hither and thither over the forest, screeching as they
go, and all alight together on some tree covered with berries. Here
they feast, but with caution; on a slight alarm one screams, and the
whole flock is on the wing, vociferous if not musical; and brilliant
if not beautiful; particularly when the sun shines on their green backs
and crimsoned wings. They generally prefer lofty trees, except when,
in June, the ripe yellow plantain tempts them to descend, or when the
black berry shines upon the pimento. Of the latter, the flocks devour
an immense quantity, and the former they destroy by cutting it to
pieces with their powerful beaks, to get at the small seeds.
One day in January, when the pimento on the brow of Bluefields Mountain
was about ready for picking, being full-sized, but yet green and hard,
I observed large flocks of Black-bills and a few Parroquets, flying to
and fro with voluble chatter, now alighting to feed on the hot aromatic
berry, now flying off, and wheeling round to the same neighbourhood
again. They were not at all shy, but, with unusual carelessness of
our proximity, scarcely moved at the report of the gun which brought
their companions to the ground. Of two which I shot on this occasion,
I found the craws stuffed with the cotyledons of the seed alone, the
most pungently aromatic part of the berry; the fleshy part having been,
as I presume, shorn off by the beak and rejected. When alighted, as
is often the case, on a dry branch, their emerald hue is conspicuous,
and affords a fair mark for the gunner; but in a tree of full foliage,
their colour proves an excellent concealment. They seem aware of this,
and their sagacity prompts them frequently to rely on it for security.
Often we hear their voices proceeding from a certain tree, or else have
marked the descent of a flock upon it, but on proceeding to the spot,
though the eye has not wandered from it, and we are therefore sure that
they are there, we cannot discover an individual. We go close to the
tree, but all is silent, and still as death; we institute a careful
survey of every part with the eye, to detect the slightest motion, or
the form of a bird among the leaves, but in vain; we begin to think
that they have stolen off unperceived, but on throwing a stone into the
tree, a dozen throats burst forth into cry, and as many green birds
rush forth upon the wing.
The screaming of this and the following species differs from that
of the Parroquet, so far as to be easily distinguished. That of the
latter consists of a series of harsh screeches, of comparative length;
that of the Parrots is less shrill, more broken into short and rapid
articulations, forming series of varying length, separated by momentary
pauses. It is, in fact, much more like a hurried chattering.
In some specimens, the patch of bright scarlet in the centre of the
wing, is diminished to a slight tinge on the edge, or even entirely
wanting. This is not a difference of sex, but probably of age.
I cannot well identify our Black-bill with Latham’s “Jamaica
Black-billed Green Parrot;” he calls it var. α of _Æstivus_, which it
surely is not; var. δ agrees in other particulars. Ours seems, as it
were, made up of both descriptions.