PARROT 



4514 



PARRY SOUND 



YELLOW-HEADED 

 PARROT 



pointed wings and rounded tails. African par- 

 rots are small in size, usually less than twelve 

 inches in length. Pygmy parrots, from three 

 to five inches long, are found in the Papuan 

 Islands. The true parrakccts form a numerous 

 group, of wide distribution (see PARRAKEET) . 



The parrot seen 

 most commonly 

 in homes is a na- 

 tive of Cuba. 

 About 10,000 of 

 pecies are 

 brought into the 

 CniU'd States and 

 Canada annually. 

 The Cuban par- 

 rot is about ten 

 inches long, and 

 has a green body, 

 w h i t e forehead, 

 M-arlet throat, 

 brilliant wings and tail feathers, which display 

 a gorgeous mingling of blue, green and scarlet. 



The Parrot in Captivity. Parrots are popular 

 cage birds because their readiness in imitating 

 human speech makes them a source of amuse- 

 ment. There are people who make it their 

 business to train parrots to be household pets. 

 These "educated" birds bring much higher 

 prices than their untrained cousins. The former 

 are sold for prices ranging from $25 to $500, the 

 most expensive being able to repeat sentences 

 and even to sing songs. An untrained bird 

 may be purchased for five or ten dollars. 



Parrots must have warmth, cleanliness, pure, 

 wholesome food and fresh air if they are to 

 remain healthy in captivity. Soft, moist food, 

 such as corn-meal mush, bread and milk, or 

 toast soaked in coffee, is best for the young 

 birds, while the older ones thrive on sunflower 

 seed, hemp, unhulled rice, cracked corn, pilot 

 crackers, nuts, mellow apples and bananas and 

 raw or cooked vegetables. Cuttle-fish shell, 

 crushed oyster shell and pulverized charcoal are 

 excellent aids to digestion, and ground cayenne 

 pepper serves admirably as a relish. The birds 

 should not be given water freely until they 

 have become accustomed to their new climate. 



The captive parrot is found frequently in 

 literature, especially in tales of the sea. Robert 

 Louis Stevenson introduces one in his enticing 

 adventure story, Treasure Island. Readers of 

 Louisa M. Alcott's Little Women have often 

 laughed over the antics of "Polly," the parrot 

 which belonged to the eccentric old aunt of 

 the March girls. M.A.H. 



Consult Page's Parrots and Other Talkinf/ 

 IHrds: Their Food. Care and Training; Greene's 

 Parrots in Captivity. 



PARRSBORO, pahrz'buro, a town in Cum- 

 berland county, Nova Scotia, situated on the 

 north shore of the Basin of Minas. It is of 

 importance chiefly as a shipping point for < 

 both by rail and by steamer. The Cumberland 

 Railway & Coal Company provides rail con- 

 nection to Spring Hill, thirty-two miles north, 

 on the Intercolonial Railway. It has steamer 

 connection with various other ports in Nova 

 Scotia, including Kingsport and Wolfville, both 

 on the south shore of the basin, and on the 

 Dominion Atlantic Railway. Shipbuilding and 

 lumbering are important industries, and there 

 are also factories for making larrigans and vari- 

 ous wood products. Parrsboro has a fine Do- 

 minion post office, and owns and operates its 

 waterworks and electric lighting system. Popu- 

 lation in 1911, 2,856. 



PARRY, pair'i, SIR WILLIAM EDWARD (1790- 

 1855), a British Arctic explorer who estab- 

 lished what remained for forty-eight years the 

 "farthest north" record. After three expedi- 

 tions in search of the Northwest Passage, which 

 were unsuccessful, but during which discoveries 

 of importance were made, he set out in 1827 

 in the Hecla to search for the North Pole. 

 Leaving his ship in far northern seas, he con- 

 tinued the journey across the ice, reaching lati- 

 tude 82 45". The account of his journey was 

 published in Narrative of the Attempt to Reach 

 the North Pole. In 1829 he was knighted and 

 in 1852 attained the rank of rear-admiral. 

 For two years before his death Parry was 

 governor of Greenwich Hospital. See NORTH- 

 WEST PASSAGE. 



PARRY SOUND, a town in Ontario, on a 

 small arm of Georgian Bay from which it takes 

 its name; it is the central town of the Parry 

 Sound district. Parry Sound is on the eastern 

 shore of Georgian Bay, about equally distant 

 from its northern and southern ends. It is 150 

 miles northwest of Toronto and about 200 miles 

 from the terminus of the proposed Georgian 

 Bay Ship Canal. Flowing into the sound at 

 this point is the Sequin River, which is not 

 navigable; it adds, however, to the charm of 

 the locality, which is noted for its rugged scen- 

 ery. Parry Sound is popularly known as the 

 Gateway to the Highlands of Ontario, and is 

 visited by hundreds of tourists, who come either 

 by one of the lake boats, which make the town 

 a port of call, or by one of the three railroads, 

 the Grand Trunk, Canadian Northern and 



