G. E. Verrill — Fauna of the Island of Dominica. 327 



Order, PSITTACI. 

 Family, Psittacid^. 

 23. AmaZOna augUSta (Vig.). " Ciceroo," Ca. 



Chrysotis augusta (Yig.); Lawr. and Scl. Lists. 



Common in the interior and on the windward side of the island 

 where it is fonnd among the mountains at quite an elevation. This 

 beautiful bird inhabits the thickest and most impenetrable forests 

 where the mountain palms and gommier trees grow, the seeds and 

 fruit of which, together with the young shoots of the former, make 

 a large part of its diet. 



They are much hunted for food during the time the game law is 

 off, being then occasionally for sale in the market at Roseau, conse- 

 quently, though common in the particular localities where they live, 

 they are exceeding shy and difficult to procure. Even when within 

 gunshot it is very hard to distinguish their green and purple plumage 

 among the dense foliage of the high trees. They are generally 

 found in small flocks or in pairs and are not infrequently seen flying 

 over at a distance. As Mr. Ober has obsei'ved, their calls are heard 

 mainly for a short time in the early morning and towards evening, 

 and when disturbed, as by a gunshot. Their notes are mainly a 

 shrill whistle, a sharp scream, and a series of crescendo yells. 



When kept in captivity, as they sometimes are, they make fairly 

 good talkers. According to the natives, the nest is generally built in 

 a hole at the top of a dead palm, but it is very rarely found ; one old 

 Carib, a man who had spent his life in the woods, said he had never 

 found but one. 



It was mainly to procure these truly Imperial Parrots, so seldom 

 seen in collections, that our trip was made to Bass-en-ville, which is 

 a single house in the primeval forest, and only to be reached by one 

 of the worst trails I have ever traveled, and I have spent a number 

 of months among the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This trip, however, 

 well repaid us for our trouble, as it was there that we took many of 

 our best birds and other specimens, but though parrots were seen 

 nearly every day, and we were accompanied by Mr. Hennessey 

 Dupigny and another hunter, our united efforts secured but two of 

 these shy birds in the ten days we were there. 



One of our specimens is a female and the other was so mutilated 

 by a shot as to x'ender the determination of sex impossible, but they 

 are alike in plumage and I can see no difference between them and 

 Mr. Lawrence's description of a male taken by Mi*. Ober. 



