Rev. William Thomas Greene

Pair of Parrots and Parakeet

Red Vented Parrot
Swift Parakeet

15.5 x 11.5 inches

A decorative pair of chromo~xylographs of parrots in original colour from a larger series entitled Parrots in Captivity published in London in 1884

In his introduction William Greene talks of his passion for parrots: The height of our ambition in the bird keeping line for many years was to have a Parrot of our own: we were not at all particular as to the species, or as to the colour of the bird, whether grey, green or white, whether long or short tailed, we did not really care, so long as the creature could be called a parrot, and was able to talk.

Keeping birds in captivity was a hobby than enthralled the Victorians and customers would eagerly await the arrival of new and exotic species as they were brought back to England from the farthest corners of Empire.