196 BULLETIN 133, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



At the Riacho Pilafi:a, Formosa, monk parrakeets of the northern 

 form Avere abundant from August 10 to 21, and a number were pre- 

 served as specimens. The birds roosted somewhere in the extensive 

 monte, and in early morning flew across in pairs or small flocks to 

 spend the day in a large field where recent plowing had brought 

 to the surface discarded sweet potatoes left from last year's harvest. 

 The parrots alighted in close company, a hundred or more together, 

 in search of food, often in company with cowbirds, chopi blackbirds, 

 and large pigeons. As they fed they maintained a constant con- 

 versational chatter, while at the slightest alarm the flock rose shriek- 

 ing and screaming to circle about in the air. As I worked at speci- 

 mens or notes through the long afternoons their rather disagreeable 

 uproar came constantly to my ears, but in compensation for this 

 discord I found a tree filled with resting birds, that nestled against 

 one another in pairs or clambered singly through the branches, a 

 beautiful and pleasing sight when the light fell I'iroperly to bring 

 out the contrast between the bright green of their plumage against 

 the dull gray green of the foliage. Indians, armed with old single- 

 barreled shotguns, at intervals potted these flocks either to secure 

 food, or in expectation that they might sell the birds to me for speci- 

 mens, and a carrancho {Polyhorus j). flancus) swooped down a dozen 

 times a day and flushed tlie flocks in screaming chatter, in hope that 

 he might encounter a cripple, less agile than its companions, that 

 might not escape his talons. The passing of an Aplomado falcon 

 brought consternation to the parrots so that they rose and circled a 

 hundred yards in air, and as haAvks were common the shadow of a 

 turkey vulture was frequently sufficient to throw them into scream- 

 ing confusion. During a heavy storm far to the southward that con- 

 tinued for an entire day with barely audible thunder, the parrakeets 

 vs^ere very nervous, and at each low rumble rose with screams to 

 circle in the air. Thej' seemed inordinately afraid of the flashing of 

 lightning, perhaps from the destruction wrought by storms to their 

 nests. 



The Toba Indians called this species either il-lit or Ki likh. 



At Kilometer 80, Vvcst of Puerto Pinasco, Paraguay, from Sep- 

 tember 6 to 18, the species was fairly common and was observed to 

 feed on the seeds of an algarroba. Three were taken on September 

 18. At Kilometer 110 on September 23 a dozen were observed eating- 

 the ripening seeds of an algarroba. As two parrakeets passed -over- 

 head an Indian cast a throw stick at them and the birds barely 

 escaped it. 



A male shot September 18 had the sides of the bill fawn color, 

 shading to avellaneous on gonys and culmen ; iris benzo brown ; tar- 

 sus and toes deep mouse gray, the scales outlined with whitish. 



