108 CRUSOE'S ISLAND. 



noon when the day is hottest, as well as at evening 

 time, do they raise the most deafening din. 



But, not to dally too long, this bright morning, 

 with the " razor grinder," as the black people call 

 him, we must swallow our coffee and away. As I go 

 down the hill I see some swift-flying birds approach- 

 ing, many pairs of them, but all in couples. They 

 wing their way with rapid beatings of the air, for 

 their bodies are robust, their wings are short. They 

 are the large green parrots, and are going off for a 

 hasty meal in the " provision grounds," before the 

 owners are out and before they begin their regular 

 all-day foraging on their own " feeding trees " in the 

 forest. In an hour or so they will come back again, 

 having learned by bitter experience that it isn't safe 

 •to stray far from the woods long after the sun has 

 risen. 



They were all screaming to each other, " Quite 

 right, quite right ! " not knowing at all the significance 

 of the words they uttered ; but one of them startled 

 me by adding, " Quite right, ha-ha, quite right ! " It 

 was Polly Psittacus, and lucky for him he cried out 

 as he did, for I had my gun up, ready to drop him as 

 he flew by, thinking, of course, he was one of the 

 wild ones. And a wild one he was, having returned 

 to his old ways of feeding and living ; but he never 

 forgot me, and a few days later he and Mrs. Psittacus 

 paid me a visit. 



Having got rid of their first crop of young, or 

 rather having given them a start in life by pushing 

 them out of their nest, they now had leisure for visit- 



