Mascarene Parrot
Category : birds
Based on a colored engraving by Jacques Barraband from F. Levaillant’s Histoire Naturelle des Perroquets. Vol 2, Paris, 1801-5.
Wikipedia says: The Mascarene Islands (or Mascarenhas Archipelago) is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar comprising Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues, Agaléga, Cargados Carajos shoals, plus the former islands of the Saya de Malha, Nazareth and Soudan banks.
Errol Fuller says: “In all probability, the very last living Mascarene Parrot was kept, far from its natural home, in the Zoological Gardens of the King of Bavaria in Munich.”
This makes him a fitting bird for today, the day when I leave for a well-deserved vacation in Germany. I’ll send postcards.