Mascarene Grey Parakeet
Mauritius - gray parakeet (Psittacula bensoni )
The Mauritius - gray parakeet (Psittacula bensoni ) is an extinct species of parrot of the genus Psittacula parakeets precious. In the literature it is guided bensoni also Lophopsittacus.
The species was described on the basis of skeletal remains or bone fragments ( lower jaw, palate bone and tarsometatarsus ) and old travel reports. So far lacks any evidence of a bellows in old museum collections or for the keeping of the species in human hands. As Aussterbeursache hunting by European sailors is assumed for food. The Mauritius - gray parakeet had a gray plumage, a white eye region and a long tail. He showed little fear of humans. When hunting calling decoys were used and killed with the attracted parakeets. Willem van West - Zanen (1602 ) gave in his travel report a description of the hunt, which is also shown. 1764 listed the General Governor of Pondicherry, Réunion and Mauritius David Charpentier de Cossigny ( 1740-1801 ) that the woods of Mauritius fully parrots are, this description can be applied to other related home there parrot species. The last reports of the Mauritius Grey Parrot existed in the 1730s.