i6o STORIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



bathing scene is like a frolic, for they splash about and roll over each other, 

 and chatter and scream, and seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. 

 When they have bathed enough, they fly up to the branches of the trees, 

 and dress their feathers, and make themselves very clean and tidy ; and 

 in the middle of the day, when the heat is the greatest, they take a nap, 

 and all is silent. 



Their roosting-place is in some hollow tree, often in the hole made by the 

 woodpecker. 



The parrots get into the hole until it will contain no more, and the rest 

 sleep close by, hooked on to the tree by their bill and claws. 



The mother parrot does not take the trouble to make a nest. She lays 

 her eggs in a hole, and all the mother parrots lay them in the same place. 



Because the parrot can be taught to speak, and has such droll ways, he is 

 much sought after as a pet. 



The Indian makes a trade of catching parrots, and he goes into the forest 

 on purpose. He uses a blunt arrow, for he does not want to kill or even to 

 hurt the parrot ; he merely wishes to stun him and make him fall to the 

 ground, so that he can carry him away. And sometimes he will not use 

 arrows at all, but will light a fire under the tree, and burn a kind of plant 

 that makes a strong stupefying smell. The parrots begin to feel stupid and 

 sleepy, and drop to the ground as if they were dead. 



Sometimes a curious and rather cruel thing is done to the parrot. 



By nature he wears a green dress that you would think was handsome 

 enough ; but the Indian fancies he can improve on nature. He tries to get 

 the parrot when he is young, and his green feathers are only just beginning to 

 grow. He takes off the feathers, and rubs the skin with a kind of dye that 

 changes the colour, and when the feathers grow again they are not green, but 

 red and yellow. 



The parrot in his new costume is thought a great rarity, and is worth 

 much more than if he had been let alone. But he is never so cheerful and 

 lively as he used to be, and has rather a drooping and dejected air. In fact, 

 his health is injured by the process. 



