6 BULLETIN 17 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



States, assured me that he had examined many nests of the Parrakeet built 

 precisely as above described. Formerly, when the birds were abundant in the 

 surrounding region, he used to find them breeding in large colonies in the 

 cypress swamps. Several of these colonies contained at least a thousand birds 

 each. They nested invariably in small cypress trees, the favorite position being 

 on a fork near the end of a slender horizontal branch. Every fork would be 

 occupied, and he has seen as many as forty or fifty nests in one small tree. 

 Their nests closely resembled those of the Carolina Dove, being similarly com- 

 posed of cypress twigs put together so loosely that the eggs were often visible 

 from the ground beneath. The twigs of the cypress seemed to be preferred to 

 those of any other kind of tree. The height at which the nests were placed 

 varied from five or six feet to twenty or thirty feet. Mr. Long described the 

 eggs as being of a greenish white color, unspotted. He did not remember the 

 maximum number which he had found in one set, but thought it was at least 

 four or five. He had often taken young birds from the nests to rear or to give 

 to his friends. 



Several times parakeets have been known to breed in captivity 

 or attempt to do so. Kobert Kidgway brought several birds from 

 Florida that laid at least 13 eggs in captivity ; most of the eggs now 

 in American collections are the product of these birds. Dr. Wil- 

 liam C. Herman writes to me that parakeets bred successfully in the 

 Cincinnati Zoological Garden, where some were kept for 20 or more 

 years; the last one died in September 1914. "Some of these birds 

 bred in captivity. Dozens of young birds were raised, especiall;y 

 when others recently captured were added." Dr. Nowotny (1898) 

 purchased a pair of Carolina parakeets in Vienna and tried to breed 

 them in captivity. The female laid in all ten eggs; the first five 

 were put in a breeding box, but never hatched, as they were "picked 

 and sucked," presumably by the birds. Two more eggs were placed 

 under a hen but were destroyed through carelessness. The other 

 three were placed in the breeding box and incubated by the para- 

 keets; three young were hatched, but they did not live to maturity. 



Eggs. — It is not definitely known how many eggs were laid by the 

 Carolina parakeet in a normal set, but indications point to two and 

 three as being the commonest numbers. Bendire (1895) says, of the 

 eggs laid by Mr. Ridgway's birds in captivity : 



None of these eggs can be called round ; they vary from ovate to short ovate, 

 and are rather pointed. They are white, with the faintest yeUowish tint, 

 ivory-like and quite glossy; the shell is rather thick, close grained, and 

 deeply pitted, not unlike the eggs of the African Ostrich {Striithio camelus), 

 but of course not as noticeable. Holding the eggs in a strong light, the 

 inside appears to be pale yellow. * * * 



The deep pitting is noticeable in every specimen, and there can be no possible 

 doubt about the identity of these eggs. * * * There is no diflSculty whatever 

 in distinguishing these eggs from those of the Burrowing Owl or the Kingfisher, 

 both of which are occasionally substituted for them. 



Mr. Childs (1905) figures the three eggs sent to him by Mr. Ridg- 

 way and describes them as "color pure white with ivory gloss sur- 



