THICK-BILLED PARROT 17 



wrested from their cavities in the hearts of the hard, green cones by 

 their powerful beaks. The beaks, at their bases, as well as nearly 

 the entire under parts of the birds, were more or less begummed with 

 the resin of the cones." The birds reported by Austin Paul Smith 

 (1907) were first noticed when "feeding on pinyon nuts. Some of the 

 birds were on the ground, searching for the fallen nuts." During 

 their sojourn in Arizona, these parrots have been reported as feeding 

 on pinyon nuts and acorns, after they had exhausted the supply of 

 pine cones. 



The stomachs of two birds examined by Cottam and Knappen 

 (1939) contained 136 and 284 or more seeds of the Chihuahua pine 

 (Pmus chihuahuana) . "The pine seeds were in all stages from en- 

 tire seeds to a pulverized mast-like debris." 



Behavior. — All observers seem to agree that the thick-billed parrot 

 is very tame and unsuspicious, probably owing to its unfamiliarity 

 with man. 



William Beebe (1905) says : "It is either a very stupid bird or con- 

 trolled by its curiosity, for the flocks followed us everywhere." 



Dr. Bergtold (1906) writes: 



It was a great surprise to see how different is a wild parrot from a tame 

 one ; one must need get an idea from the latter that a parrot is a slov>^, lumber- 

 ing climber, able to use its wings perhaps, yet little given to prolonged and 

 vigorous flight. On the contrary, this Thick-billed Parrot flew across deep bar- 

 rancas, from mountain to mountain, as swift and strong on wing as a duck, 

 going often in large flocks, which were noticeably divided in pairs, each couple 

 flying one above another as closely as beating wings allowed. Its loud squawk 

 resoimded overhead, across the barrancas, and in the pines all day long, from 

 dawn till dusk ; and many and many a time a flock could be heard long before 

 it was in sight. The birds were not at all shy, as one could walk up under a 

 tree and watch a pair climbing in it without distiirbing them in the least. 

 Here they seemed natural, at least to one whose previous knowledge of parrots 

 came via the cage bird, for they climbed about precisely as does the domesticated 

 species, using bill and feet in the familiar way ; on the wing the birds seemed 

 anything but parrots. 



Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1935) obtained considerable informa- 

 tion from reliable observers about the occurrence of this parrot in 

 Arizona and its habits; regarding its movements and behavior, he 

 writes : 



According to all accounts Thick-billed Parrots gathered at night to roost in 

 flocks and then spread out in small bands to feed during the day. In Pinery 

 Canyon they roosted somewhere on the upper mountain slopes during summer 

 and fall. Morning and evening they were seen in two large flocks. As the 

 weather became colder the roosting place was changed to one at a lower alti- 

 tude. In Rucker Canyon the birds came at night to the mountain side above 

 the site of old Camp Rucker. 



As there were a thousand or more here, their morning and evening flights 

 were quite impressive. In the Dragoon Range the parrots roosted somewhere 



