STOEIES ABOUT BIRDS. 83 



parrot, in a cage, was brougiit by some one 

 into tlie same room ; but as soon as Poll struck 

 up her harsh notes, the other bird ceased to 

 sing, and continued silent for a considerable 

 time, and even until it was removed to a part 

 of the house where the parrot could not be 

 heard. After a while it began to sing again. 

 The parrot was then brought into the room ; 

 but, as before, when she uttered her cry, the 

 canary ceased ; and Avas never heard to sing 

 from that time to its death, which occurred in 

 two or three months afterward. Let noisy 

 children remember this. 



One species is found in the southern States. 

 Audubon describes it as a great lover of mis- 

 chief He says, " It eats or destroys almost 

 every kind of fruit, and on this account is 

 ahvays an unwelcome visitor to the planter, 

 the farmer, or the gardener. The stacks of 

 grain put up in the fields are resorted to by 

 these birds, which frequently cover them so 

 entirely, that they present to the eye the same 

 effect as if a brilliantly colored carpet had been 

 thrown over them. They cling around the 

 whole stack, pull out the straws, and destroy 

 twice as much of the grain as would suffice 

 to satisfy their hunger. They alight on apple- 

 trees in great numbers, when the fruit is small, 



