CAROLINA PARROT. lU 



They are particularly attached to the large sycamores, in the hollow of 

 the trunks, and branches of which, they generally roost, thirty or forty, 

 and sometimes more, entering at the same hole. Here they cling close 

 to the sides of the tree, holding fast by the claws, and also by the bills. 

 They appear to be fond of sleep, and often retire to their holes during 

 the day, probably to take their regular siesta. They are extremely so- 

 ciable with and fond of each other, often scratching each other's heads 

 and necks, and always at night nestling as close as possible to each 

 other, preferring, at that time, a perpendicular position, supported by 

 their bill and claws. In the fall, when their favorite cockle-burrs are 

 ripe, they swarm along the coast, or high grounds of the Mississippi, 

 above New Orleans, for a great extent. At such times they are killev^ 

 and eaten by many of the inhabitants ; though I confess I think their 

 flesh very indifferent. I have several times dined on it from necessity 

 in the woods ; but found it merely passable, with all the sauce of a keen 

 appetite to recommend it.* 



A very general opinion prevails, that the brains and intestines of the 

 Carolina Paroquet are a sure and fatal poison to cats. I had deter- 

 mined, when at Big-Bone, to put this to the test of experiment ; and for 

 that purpose collected the brains and bowels of more than a dozen of 

 them. But after close search Mrs. Puss was not to be found, being en- 

 gaged perhaps on more agreeable business. I left the medicine with 

 Mr. Colquhoun's agent, to administer it by the first opportunity, and 

 write me the result ; but I have never yet heard from him. A respect- 

 able lady near the town of Natchez, and on whose word I can rely, 

 assured me, that she herself had made the experiment, and that, what- 

 ever might be the cause, the cat had actually died either on that or the 

 succeeding day. A French planter near Bayo Fourche pretended to 

 account to me for this effect, by positively asserting that the seeds of the 

 cockle-burrs, on which the Paroquets so eagerly feed, were deleterious 

 to cats ; and thus their death was produced by eating the intestines of 

 the bird. These matters might easily have been ascertained on the 

 spot, which, however, a combination of trifling circumstances prevented 

 me from doing. I several times carried a dose of the first description 

 in my pocket, till it became insufferable, without meeting with a suitable 

 patient, on whom, like other professional gentlemen, I might conve- 

 niently make a fair experiment. 



I was equally unsuccessful in my endeavors to discover the time of 



* Had our author been provided with proper apparatus to cook these birds, and 

 suitable condiments, he would, doubtless, have been of a different opinion. Mr. T. 

 Peale and myself, when in East Florida, where this species is found in great num- 

 bers, thought them excellent eating. In Florida the Paroquets are migratory. We 

 saw the first flock of them, at the Cowford, on the river St. John, on the first of 

 March : the greater part of them were males. — G. Ovd. 



