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VOL. Il. | Andrew Fackson Grayson. 55 
whether this hawk breeds in western Mexico or not, not having the 
good fortune to encounter its nest. It is quite probable, however, 
that it breeds in California and Oregon, where young-plumaged 
birds have been obtained. * * * * 
Tres MARIAS YELLOW-HEADED PaRROT. Chrysotts levaillanti 
Gray.—In the wild and densely wooded islands of the Tres Marias, 
hitherto but little known and uninhabited, I found this large and 
handsome parrot in considerable numbers. Its appearance there 
and not upon the adjacent coast seemed to me very remarkable, 
as it possesses sufficient powers of flight to pass back and forth it 
it so desired, and the same kind of food upon which it subsists could 
be found in equal abundance, yet it never visits the mainland volun- 
tarily. It is without doubt peculiar to these islands, where nature 
had produced and destined it a local habitation. Therefore its geo- 
graphical range is more limited than that of any parrot found upon 
the mainland. Doubtless they are more contented in their quiet 
island home, than the roving species that are ever restless. Know- 
ing no other country but their little flowery forest world, with the 
native songsters for their friends and acquaintances, they led a 
happy and obscure life of contentment and safety, until man the 
destroyer made his appearance among them. 
It is only within very recent years that one of the islands has 
become partially inhabited by the cutters of cedvo, and as recently as 
1865, when I visited these islands for the first time, I found these 
birds so tame and unsuspecting at the approach of a human being, 
as to be easily taken, simply by putting a running noose of twine 
upon the end of a slender pole and slipping it gently over the head, 
while they were busy feeding among the low branches or quietly 
sitting upon the limb of a tree. 
Many of these parrots are captured by the wood cutters and sold 
to the vessels touching there for a cargo of timber. They are also 
carried to Tepic, San Blas, Mazatlan and other points on the coast 
and sold for from one to five dollars. Upon a subsequent visit to 
these islands in 1867, on my return from Socorro Island, I found © 
that their numbers had diminished considerably, and they had 
become so shy as to be difficult of approach. They had learned 
the arts and tricks of man, and kept him at a respectable distance. 
; When captured after they are fully grown, they never learn to 
talk and seem very unhappy and unfriendly in confinement, keep- 
