THE MUSEUM. 



217 



our conversation turned on the Paro- 

 quets and he informed me that he knew 

 where there had been some last Decem- 

 ber and he thought we could find them 

 if I would go with him a few days, so I 

 engaged him, and Monday morning 

 March 25th, 1895, after purchasing a 

 few articles of food and taking with me 

 a small collecting outfit, we started for 

 the shore of the lake where he kept his 

 boat. I carried my gun and bedding 

 and the guide had our can of provisions 

 and my box of cartridges with which 

 we had to wade to the boat. 



The old saying that a bad beginning 

 makes a good ending, was exemplified 

 on this trip as the old fellow slipped 

 from a plank on which he was walking, 

 and dropped the can of food and my 

 cartridges overboard. Fortunately the 

 water was shallow, and the things were 

 recovered without much damage being 

 done, except to my feelings. 



The boat we had to cross the lake 

 in, was a small skiff 13 feet long, 

 carrying one sail, our weight placing it 

 very low in the water. 



The breeze freshening up very much 

 after starting, I tied my gun securely in 

 the boat and prepared to take an in- 

 voluntary bath, as every few minutes a 

 wave would break over the side of the 

 boat. 



Part of the time I held the sheet rope 

 to the sail in one hand and used the 

 bailing can with the other hand to keep 

 from swamping. 



Finally we reached the other shore 

 of the lake but several miles from where 

 we had intended to land. Fortunately 

 there was a Cracker family living near, 

 having a horse and wagon whom I en- 

 gaged to drive us to our destination, a 

 deserted cabin about four miles away. 



On reaching the house we found it had 

 recently been occupied by a Cracker 

 who kindly invited us to stop with him. 

 The next morning we started our search 

 for the Paroquets and hunted an exten- 

 sive Cypress Swamp and Palmietto 

 Hammock but our search was useless. 



On our way back to camp we stop- 

 ped at a house to make inquiries about 

 the birds, and found they occasionally 

 came near the house to feed. The 

 people very kindly invited us to dinner 

 which the guide availed himself of, and 

 while eating, I observed some Paro- 

 quets fly into a tree in the rear of 

 the house. He at once called me and 

 on approaching the tree I saw on an 

 upper branch a Paroquet which I shot. 

 At the report of my gun three others 

 flew from the tree, one of which I 

 secured. The remaining two darted 

 swiftly past me again, my next two shots 

 missing them. 



They evidently took this as a hint to 

 leave as they at once started in the 

 direction of the woods and were lost to 

 sight. After picking up the two birds 

 and arranging their plumage, I listened 

 to hear if the other birds were calling. 

 I thought I heard the note in the dis- 

 tance and set out with the guide to look 

 for the birds, we searched for some 

 time unsuccessfully, when in a large 

 oak tree I saw one of the birds which I 

 shot, the other bird flew and I killed it 

 with my next shot, this event closing 

 my experience with the Paroquet in 



life. 



Edward J. Brown. 

 Washington, D. C. 



