"^^2 Hasurouck fl>i Ihc Ccnoliiia Paroquet. [October 



lip soPiic oiiL' of the rixxT \allo)s vvilhout vvaiulcring- over inter- 

 mediate territory. 



As regards the general habits of the Paroquets, there is appar- 

 ently nothing of interest to be added to the accounts already pub- 

 lished. That they are a hardy race is evinced by the appearance 

 of a flock in midwinter at Albany, New York. Nuttall states* 

 that tliey are so hardy as to appear at St. Louis in tlie depth of 

 winter, while Wilson recountsj his meeting with a flock on the 

 Ohio in a snow-storm, the biids "'flying about like Pigeons and 

 in full cry." This is so greatly at variance with the general haMts 

 of Parrots, which are always looked upon as birtls of a warm cli- 

 mate, that it does not seem out of place to cjuote these' statements 

 in the present paper. 



As to the breeding habits, we have two accounts widely difler- 

 ent from each other, both of which, all things considered, we are 

 bound to accept. Audubon and Wilson were the flrst to inform 

 us concerning the nest and eggs, both of whom distinctly state 

 tliat they breed in companies in hollow trees. Since the time of 

 these writers, owing to various conflicting accounts, their manner 

 of nesting has been considerably in doubt, but in 1SS9 light was 

 thrown on tlie subject by Mr. W^m. Brewster, who wrf)te| as fol- 

 lows : "While in Florida during February and March, 1S89, I 

 questioned everybody whom I met legarding the nesting of the 

 Parrakeet. Only three persons professed any knowledge on this 

 subject. The first two were both uneducated men — professional 

 hunters of alligators and plume birds. Each of them claimed to 

 have seen Parrakeets' nests, which they described as flimsy struc- 

 tures built of twigs and placed on the branches of cypress trees. 

 One of them said he had found a nest only the previous summer 

 (18SS), while fishing. By means of his pole he tipped the nest 

 over and secured two young birds which it contained. This ac- 

 count was so widely at variance with what has been previously re- 

 corded regarding the nesting of this species that I considered it, at 

 the time, as a mere fabrication, but afterwards it was unexpectedly 

 and most strongly corroborated by Judge R. L. Long of Talla- 

 hassee. The latter gentleman .... assured me that he had exam- 

 ined many nests of the Parrakeet built precisely as above des- 



*Man. Orn., I, 1832, p. 546. 

 tAm. Orn., Ill, 1811, p. 90. 

 I Auk, VI, 1889, p. 336. 



