THE CAROLINA PAROQUET 241 



being on a fork near the end of a slender horizontal 

 branch. Every such fork would be occupied ; and 

 he has seen as many as forty or fifty nests in a 

 single tree. The nests were similar to those of a 

 Dove, made of cypress twigs, and often so loosely 

 put together that the eggs could be seen through 

 them from below. They ranged from five or six 

 to twenty or thirty feet from the ground. It 

 is difiicult to reconcile such testimony with the 

 statements of Wilson and others, who assert that 

 the bird breeds in hollow trees ; but we cannot 

 admit that Wilson knew anything about the matter 

 from personal observation, for he tells us that he 

 was unsuccessful in obtaining any information re- 

 lating to the time or the manner of building of 

 the Carolina Paroquet. He was assured that they 

 bred in trees. Certainly the latter method of 

 breeding is that adopted by most Picarian birds, 

 but possibly this species resembles the Yellow- 

 billed Cuckoo in its methods of nest-building. The 

 eggs of the Carolina Paroquet are said to be four 

 or five in number, and, judging from specimens 

 laid in confinement, to be " white, with the faintest 

 yellowish tinge, ivory-like and quite glossy; the 

 shell is rather thick, close-grained, and deeply 



pitted." 

 16 



