TURKEYS AND PARROTS 159 



of birds in northern habitats occur to me. Strictly speaking, 

 they should not be quoted, because they are now extinct in 

 their northern habitats. But as their extermination happened 

 within historic times, and has been caused by human interfer- 

 ence, I may venture to include them in this group of southern 

 invaders. They are the turkey and the Florida parrot. 



The wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) belongs to a dis- 

 tinctly southern group of birds. In the time of the early 

 settlers it was common as far north as Massachusetts, and 

 extended westward to Colorado and southward to Mexico and 

 Florida. Being a much-prized luxury of the pioneer hunter, 

 it was soon exterminated in the more populous districts. It 

 still occurs in -some of the southern States, while an allied 

 species is known from Central America. The genus Meleagris 

 was already an inhabitant of North America in Oligocene 

 times, for Professor Marsh described a species from the White 

 River deposits in Colorado. No doubt it has lived in North 

 America ever since those early Tertiary times. All we know 

 from fossil evidence is that the remains of two other species 

 were identified from Pleistocene deposits in New Jersey, while 

 the bones of the wild turkey itself have been noticed in a cave 

 in Pennsylvania. Like the edentates and peccaries this 

 southern genus of birds flourished in the northern States 

 throughout the Glacial Epoch and survived there until his- 

 toric times. 



The Florida parrot (Conuropsis carolinensis) is the only 

 example of the large parrot tribe indigenous to the United 

 States. It is now restricted to the comparatively small area 

 of the Gulf States and the lower Mississippi Valley. Yet the 

 early settlers noticed this bird even near the shores of the 

 Great Lakes, and occasionally it was observed near the cities 

 that were springing up in the eastern States. No doubt it 

 survived in these northern districts from remote times, al- 

 though we possess no fossil evidence of this fact. It cannot 

 be contended that the parrot left its former habitat through 

 persecution; nevertheless, man in his agricultural pursuits, 

 must have interfered with it, possibly by reducing the birds' 

 food supply. 



I wish now to make a few remarks on the inhabitants of 

 the mighty river and its tributaries flowing through the 



