10 BULLETIN 17 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Maynard (1896) says: 



I have remarked that the Parokeets scream very loudly when flying; so 

 loudly, in fact, that their shrill cries can be heard for miles. They come dash- 

 ing along, moving in a most eccentric manner ; novp near the ground, then high 

 over the tree tops, seeming about to alight a dozen times but still without 

 settling, each in the company endeavoring to excel the other in producing the 

 most discordant yells, when they will all pitch, at once, into some tree and a 

 sudden silence ensues. So great had been the din but a second before that the 

 comparative stillness is quite bewildering, then too, the large flock of highly 

 colored birds, lately so conspicuous, have disappeared completely. I well 

 remember my first experience of this nature ; I stood, gun in hand, watching the 

 evolutions of a large company as it wheeled about, awaiting an opportunity to 

 shoot, when, of a sudden, they all alighted in a large live-oak which stood a few 

 rods away. I cautiously approached the tree, ready to slaughter half the flock 

 at a single discharge, if possible, when, what was my surprise upon going 

 within a suitable distance, not to perceive a bird. Neither could I see so much 

 as a feather of the desired game although I walked around the tree several 

 times and even went beneath its branches to peer up between them. After 

 spending some time in these fruitless efforts, my patience became quite ex- 

 hausted and I threw a large oyster shell up into the tree. This certainly pro- 

 duced an effect, not just what I intended, however, for, in an instant, out 

 darted the entire body of screaming birds but on the opposite side of the 

 thick tree ; thus I could only stand and watch them as they disappeared in 

 the neighboring swamp. 



Audubon (1842) says: 



Their roosting-place is in hollow trees, and the holes excavated by the larger 

 species of Woodpeckers, as far as these can be filled by them. At dusk, a flock 

 of Parakeets may be seen alighting against the trunk of a large sycamore 

 or any other tree, when a considerable excavation exists within it. Immediately 

 below the entrance the birds all cling to the bark, and crawl into the hole to 

 pass the night. When such a hole does not prove sufficient to hold the whole 

 flock, those around the entrance hook themselves on by their claws, and the 

 tip of the upper mandible, and look as if hanging by the bill. I have frequently 

 seen them in such positions by means of a glass, and am satisfled that the 

 bill is not the only support used in such cases. 



Dr. William C. Herman writes to me, of the parakeets in the Cin- 

 cinnati Zoological Garden : "The parakeets were well adapted to being 

 caged, some were in the zoo for 20 or more years. A hollow tree was 

 provided for the birds for roosting. Here they hung for the night ; 

 that is, they used their beaks for holding to the interior of the tree 

 trunk and so rested for the night." 



DISTRIBUTION 



^anp-e.— Southeastern United States ; probably extinct. 



The range of the Carolina parakeet extended north to casually 

 northeastern Colorado (Little Thompson River) ; eastern Nebraska 

 (Omaha and Brown ville) ; casually Iowa (Spirit Lake and Decatur 

 County) ; casually southern Wisconsin (Lake Koskonong and Wau- 

 kesha County) ; Ohio (Columbus and Summit County) ; and Penii- 



