452 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



in the cornfields, tearing away the husks and often eating as much as 

 half of the ear. Concerning our experience with parrots on Acklin 

 Island I can do no better than quote from my note-book, under date 

 of March 4. "We turned out at daybreak, and after breakfast 

 joined the guide whom we had engaged the night before, and started 

 into the parrot country, back from 'Gold Rock' settlement. We 

 saw corn destroyed by parrots about five miles south of Spring Point, 

 but no birds were heard or seen. We met a resident of Pompey Bay, 

 however, who had seen a flock the previous evening, so we dismissed 

 our first guide and proceeded with the new one, going still farther 

 south over very rough country until about two o'clock, when we 

 reached the point where they were seen the previous evening. It 

 is their habit to remain quiet through the heat of the day, coming out 

 of cover to feed in the morning and evening, when their noisy chat- 

 tering is sure to betray their presence, so we sat down to await their 

 appearance. We had rested perhaps an hour thus, when some par- 

 rots were heard in the distance. Slipping up on them, we finally 

 caught sight of one bird, which was shot, while two others we had 

 not seen, but which were feeding in the same 'synagogue bush,' 

 only about ten feet from the ground, flew off, one of them badly 

 wounded, but it did not fall in sight, and was not found. Again 

 we sat down, and in about fifteen or twenty minutes another bird 

 was heard, approached within range, and secured. Although we 

 remained in the vicinity until nearly sunset, shifting our station 

 from time to time, no others were heard or seen, so we started 

 for Pompey Bay, where we intended to pass the night. We had 

 gone scarcely a mile on our way when two parrots flushed wildly 

 with a loud chattering, but although we followed them for some dis- 

 tance they would not permit us to approach within one hundred 

 yards. As night was close at hand we retraced our way to the 'road' 

 and resumed our journey to Pompey Bay, where we arrived after 

 dark in a somewhat fagged-out condition. 



"March 5. We were up at daylight, and after a hasty breakfast, 

 and having engaged our guide to try to get some more parrots for us, 

 we started on the return journey, finally arriving at our headquarters 

 at ten o'clock, with blistered feet, and otherwise exhausted." That 

 evening our guide sent us two parrots which he had shot for us, and 

 as we were leaving the island just at sunset on March 8, the last skifT 

 to come off to the schooner brought us two more which our first guide 



