BIRDS—PSITTACIDAE—CONURUS CAROLINENSIS. 67 
CONURUS CAROLINENSIS, Kuhl. 
Parakeet; Carolina Parrot. 
Psittaca carolinensis, Brisson, Ornith. II, 1762, 138. 
Psittacus carolinensis, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1758, 97; 1766, 141, (nec Scoporr.)—Witson, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 89 
pl. xxvi, fig. 1.—Aup. Orn. Biog. J, 1832, 135, pl. 26. 
Conurus carolinensis, Kuni, Nova Acta K. L. C. 1830.—Bon. List. 1838.—Pr. Max. Cabanis Journ. fiir Orn. 
V, March, 1857, 97. 
Centurus carolinensis, Aup. Syn. 1839, 189.—In. Birds Am. [V, 1842, 306, pl. 278. 
Psittccus ludovicianus, Gu. Syst. I, 1788, 347. 
Carolina parrot, Caressy, Car. I, tab. xi.—Lartuam, Syn. I, 227.—Penwanrt, II, 242. 
Orange-headed parrot, Latuam, Syn. I, 304. 
Sp. Ca.—Head and neck all round gamboge yellow; the forehead, from above the eyes, with the sides of the head, pale 
brick red. Body generally and tail green, with a yellowish tinge beneath. Outer webs of primaries bluish green, yellow at 
the base; secondary coverts edged with yellowish. Edge of wing yellow, tinged with red; tibiae yellow. Bill white. Legs 
flesh color. Length about 13 inches; wing 7.50; tail 7.10. Young with head and neck green. 
Hab.—Southern and southwestern States, as far west as the Missouri. 
In the specimens before me I have been unable to detect any difference between the sexes ; 
the young I have not had the opportunity of examining, but Audubon states that the head and 
neck are green. 
The description by Linneus of Psittacus carolinensis presents nothing characteristic of this 
species, being based on a defective figure of Catesby. Brisson’s indication is, however, unmis- 
takable. The P. pertinax of Linneus has usually been considered as the young of the Carolina 
parrot, but it proves to be a distinct South American species, without any red on the head. 
This species on the Atlantic slope has been seen, at rare intervals, as far north as Pennsyl- 
vania, though rare at the present day even in South Carolina. Westward they occur high up 
on the Missouri, though none have been collected or seen by any recent expeditions much west 
of that river. Barton, in his Fragments of the Natural History of Pennsylvania, page 6, says 
that a very large flock was met with in January, 1780, about twenty-five miles northwest of 
Albany, and caused great terror in the minds of the Dutch settlers, who imagined that they 
portended the destruction of the world. 
