Psittacus Gulielmi. Synonyms: Paeocephalus Gulielmi, Jrd. & Slb.; Pionias Gulielmi, SchlG;

Poiocephalus Gulielmi, Snc.; Psittacus Aubrianus, Gr.

German: Guilelmi's Larngflügelpapagei, Rss.

French: Perroquet ā tête d' or.

SIR WILLIAM JARDINE, the editor of the well-known Naturalist's Library, has had the honour, bestowed upon him by his collaborateur, Prideaux John Selby, of giving both his names to this handsome bird; and when we have said that, there remains but little more to be added to the account we have to give of it; for the Pœocephali are not, as a rule, remarkable for their intelligence; and Gulielmus, as far at least as our experience of the bird goes, comes in pretty far down the list; but as, on the other hand, our colleague and a correspondent, who have had a wider experience with it than we can boast of, speak most favourably of it as a domestic pet; and as fairplay is a jewel of the first water, we give both sides of the question, and like the showman in the story, say to our readers "pay your money and take your choice" - that is buy a Jardine, and determine for yourselves which side of the question you will choose to espouse.

To begin with the dark side of its character. Dr. Russ does not include Gulielmus among his "Talking Parrots" (Die sprechenden Papa-geien), and as he places in that category others that have very small faculty indeed for imitating the human voice, or repeating any sound other than their own native woodland notes; that would be saying, or rather not saying, a good deal, providing his experience of the bird were not limited to one or two specimens of unfortunately morose disposition, or that were perhaps afflicted with some disease, to which captive Parrots are so subject; for our colleague, as we have said, credits Jardine's Parrot with learning to speak quickly and well, if "in a small, rather throaty voice"; and he has at different times possessed several examples of the species, of which every one differed from the other in character.

Herr Schlechtendal possessed two of these birds, which he believed to be a pair, for a year and a half; but says they were dull creatures (langweilige Geschöpfe), and had none of the sprightliness of the Moh-renköpfe, or Senegal Parrots.

Herr Wiener, too, has nothing much to say in commendation of them; but one of his pair dying, the other passed into the custody of Dr. Russ, who relates that he had a good opportunity of observing it, and found that in its habits it resembled the Black-headed Parrot; and when frightened or teased, would give utterance to a shrill cry; but not one word do these gentlemen say of the talking powers of their birds.

Our own experience is that the Jardine's Parrot does talk, and that passably, though a stranger will scarcely understand what it says, unless some one that is well acquainted with the creature acts as interpreter; but it seems to have a lamentable tendency to self-mutilation. Perhaps our William was not kept sufficiently amused, and that ennui caused it to turn round and pluck itself, until its back was completely bare, and very often bleeding. Nothing seemed of the least avail to stop the horrid practice; and when at last we had to make a post-mortem examination of the remains, the only possible verdict was one of felo de se; nor was the bird particularly lamented, when the kitchen range one day after dinner received all that was left of it for decent cremation.

A native of the Gold Coast, this Parrot is not particularly uncommon, nor is it very dear; the dealers of whom we have made inquiry demanding from twenty-five to thirty shillings for a newly-imported specimen; though of course a trained bird that could talk a little might bring a great deal more, and fetch perhaps as much as five pounds; which reminds us that possibly we appreciated our bird less than it deserved, for the reason that we paid nothing for it, that it was half denuded of its feathers when it passed into our possession, and that all our efforts to reclaim it were in vain. Very likely had it been in good condition, or had our endeavours to break it of its naughty habit been attended with success, we should have prized it more than, we admit, we ever did.

The London Zoological Society received their first specimen of Jardine's Parrot in 1862; since which date others have been introduced into the Parrot House, of which one example was a very nice tame bird, that eventually took to plucking itself, and probably died indirectly from that cause; but we have been unable to ascertain its end, of which no record has apparently been kept; at all events it has escaped the intelligent custodian's memory; which is not to be wondered at, seeing the multitude of different birds that pass through his hands in the course of the year.

As our colleague has given a full description of this bird in his note, we shall not occupy space by going over the same ground, but refer our readers to the plate and to Mr. Button's accurate word-portrait of .Jardine's Parrot.

Should another specimen of the species pass into our possession at any future time, we shall give an account in the Appendix to this work, of any further peculiarities respecting it, that we may observe. But that addition to our pleasant labours is a good way off yet we hope and believe, and in the meantime wo cannot add much more, except that no instance of even egg-production has been recorded of this species up to the present time.

The female cannot bo distinguished by her outward appearance from her mate; but as some of these birds have brown eyes, and others have the irides of a bright orange-red colour, it is possible that the latter may be the females; and perhaps the young of both sexes may take after their mothers in this respect; in which case the eyes of the young males would become dark as they reached maturity, and those of the females retain the lighter shade; for it is an established fact that in almost every case the young of both sexes resemble at first the adult female, and do not assume the characteristic distinctions of the sex to which they belong, until they have reached maturity, and are about becoming parents in their turn. There is also very little doubt that in the case of all birds in which the sex is not differentiated by the plumage, it is so by the permanent colour of the eye, that is to say, by the colour of the iris when the bird has reached maturity; though in some species, such as the Rose-breasted Cockatoo, for example, the distinction is much more marked than in others.

It is somewhat strange that the Jardine Parrot is not more frequently imported, for its distribution is pretty extended; the bird having been reported from all parts of the west coast of Africa, and also from Guinea, and the Gaboon, as well as from the Congo and Angola, though nothing is known of its habits in the wild state.

In length it measures about ten and a half inches, of which the tail occupies nearly three; it has strong wings, long in proportion to its size, and flies well.

The French, as a rule, are not happy in their avine nomenclature; and the title Perroquet ā tête d' or, which they have bestowed upon Paeocephalus Gulielmi, is singularly infelicitious, seeing that its forehead and crown are rather of an orange red than a golden colour. Its English and German names are greatly to be preferred to its Gallic one, though the first is perhaps the best, because the most distinctive in fact we are egotistic enough to believe that our own language is the most expressive and sensible of any tongue with which we are acquainted, and we happen to be tolerably conversant with several.

To revert to the Jardine. It is best fed on seed, hemp chiefly, but canary seed, oats, and maize must be added, and some of the latter may be advantageously boiled; though too much must not be cooked at one time, as it soon becomes sour; in which state it will disagree with a bird, and excite a kind of choleraic diarrhoea that is usually very unamenable to treatment.

Mr. P. F. Coggin writes respecting the subject of the present notice: - "I did not have the Jardine Parrot in my possession a very great time, consequently I cannot give you a large experience with it. When it came to me it was suffering from feather plucking, which I was unable to cure. It appeared to be a very sociable bird, and soon became accustomed to the person who fed it.

"When left in a room by itself, it had a very peculiar habit of lying upon its back, either upon the perch, or at the bottom of the cage; and would remain in that position for half an hour at a time unless disturbed.

"In July I turned it out into a garden aviary, but the first cold night killed it. I never heard it attempt to speak, but it was constantly making a disagreeable noise. I think it was a female; it was a small specimen compared with Mr. Dutton's bird, which I saw afterwards."

To the above account we may add that we saw the bird when it was in an advanced stage of feather-plucking; it was in good condition as regards plumpness, but was decidedly small. We are also of opinion that we performed its autopsy, and found that it had died from inflammation of the lungs; to which, of course, the loss of its feathers would render it peculiarly liable. From observations we have been able to make upon several of these Parrots, we are confirmed in our previously expressed opinion; that they make very nice pets, and that the great drawback to keeping them in captivity is their unhappy propensity for self-mutilation.

The Hon. And Rev. F. G. Dutton's Account Of Jardine's Parrot (PaeOcephalus Gulielmi)

This is a small Parrot, not much larger than the Senegal Parrot, which also belongs to the tribe of Paeocephali. Its beak is dark horn colour, and large for its size, though not so large as that of P.fusci-collis. Its head is green, with a greyish tinge in the green; the feathers of the back are black, edged with green. The upper wing coverts, flight, and tail feathers are black; the secondaries are black, edged with green. The whole of the under part is bright yellow-green, and the bird has red feathers on the forehead, shoulder butts, and knees. I incline to think that either there are two species, or that the male bird has much more red than the female; for the bird now in my possession has very little red, and two others I have had, had a great deal. And as mine has moulted twice with me, the slightness of the red cannot be owing to immaturity.

I was attracted to them first by the tameness of one I saw in the Zoological Gardens, which would come and talk to one, if one noticed it. But I never had the opportunity of keeping one till Mr. Carpenter, of Liverpool, whom I had asked to look out for Meyer's and Rüppell's Parrots for me, sent me the one I have now. I have had two others, both of which have died, owing to my absences from home. Of what the first died I do not know; but the second I believe owed its death to want of water, as it was given no more water than was in sop squeezed dry. They are very thirsty birds, and like a great deal of water. They are very fond of washing, too.

I have found them soon tamed, and remarkably quick in learning to talk, which they do in a small, rather throaty voice. They are as fond of play as a "Blue-bonnet," and will take a piece of wood and play with it like a kitten. Mine lies on its back, and plays in the most comical way with the wood which it holds in its feet.

Like all other short-tailed Parrots that I have tried, it has a good homing instinct; and if let out, never flies far from home. Mine recognises my voice or whistle at any distance; and if I call to it, when it is loose, it will at once fly towards me, and keep flying round me. It is a jealous little bird, and is not to be trusted, if strangers are by; but is very affectionate when I am alone with it. Its disposition however is peculiar to itself, for the two others I had did not mind who was by.

They seem to be somewhat difficult to acclimatise, but very hardy when once fairly established. My bird can stand any cold weather when flying about loose. I give it boiled Indian corn, hemp and canary seed mixed, and sop. But I dare say it would be just as happy with plain water as with the sop, for it eats very little of the bread. They are, I think, to be strongly recommended as pets, and would bo an attractive bird to acclimatise. I am sorry to say that mine is quite as unamiable to other Parrots, even of its own species, as it is to human beings; but perhaps if it met another in a tree, and not in a room, it might make friends.

Since writing the above I have had another, but it did not survive long.

They seem to bo difficult to acclimatise, and I have an idea that is a characteristic of the Paeocephali. I would advise people to bay them in summer, though the one that did best arrived in January in a plain deal box. Even if bought in summer it would be wise to keep them in the kitchen at first, and harden them off by degrees. They are worth twenty-five shillings each when imported.