iiU 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



ginning to rot from tlie breaking off of a 

 branch, or any such accident, this they take 

 care to scoop, and to make the hole sufficiently 

 wide and convenient; but it sometimes hap- 

 pens that they are content with the hole which 

 a woodpecker has wrought out with greater 

 ease before them ; and in this they prepare to 

 hatch and bring up their young. 



They lay two or three eggs ; and probably 

 the smaller kind may lay more ; for it is a 

 rule that universally holds through nature, 

 that the smallest animals are always the most 

 prolific ; lor being, from their natural weak- 

 ness, more subject to devastation, Nature finds 

 it necessary to replenish the species by supe- 

 rior fecundity. In general, however, the 

 number of their eggs is stinted to two, like 

 those of the pigeon, and they are about the 

 same size. They are always marked with 

 little specks, like those of a partridge; and 

 some travellers assure us, that they are always 

 found in the trunks of the tallest, straightest, 

 and the largest trees. The natives of those 

 countries, who have little else to do, are very 

 assiduous in spying out the places where the 

 parrot is seen to nestle, and generally come 

 with great joy to inform the Europeans, if 

 there be any, of the discovery. As those birds 

 have always the greatest docility that are 

 taken young, such a nest is often considered 

 as worth taking some trouble to be possessed 

 of; and, for this purpose, the usual method of 

 coming at the young is, by cutting down the 

 tree. In the fall of the tree it often happens 

 that the young parrots are killed ; but if one 

 of them survives the shock, it is considered as 

 a sufficient recompence. 



Such is the avidity with which these birds 

 are sought when young ; for it is known they 

 always speak best when their ear has not been 

 anticipated by the harsh notes of the wild ones. 

 But as the natives are not able upon all occa- 

 sions to supply the demand for young ones, 

 they are contented to take the old; and for 

 that purpose shoot them in the woods with 

 heavy arrows, headed with cotton, which 

 knock down the bird without killing it. The 

 parrots thus stunned are carried home : some 

 die, but others recover, and, by kind usage 

 and plentiful food, become talkative and noisy. 



But it is not for the sake of their conversa- 

 tion alone that the parrot is sought after among 

 the savages ; for though some of them are but 

 tough and ill-tasted, yet there are other sorts, 

 particularly of the small parakeet tribe, that 

 are very delicate food. In general it obtains, 

 that whatever fruit or grain these birds mostly 

 feed upon, their flesh partakes of the flavour, 

 and becomes good or ill-tasted, according to 

 the quality of their particular diet. When 

 the guava is ripe, they are at that season fat 

 and tender ; if they feed upon the seed of the 



acajou, their flesh contracts an agreeable fla 

 vour of garlic ; if they feed upon the seed of 

 the spicy trees, their flesh then tastes of cloves 

 and cinnamon ; while, on the contrary, it is 

 insupportably bitter if the berries they feed 

 on are of that quality. The seed of the cot- 

 ton-tree intoxicates them in the same manner 

 as wine does man ; and even wine itself is 

 drunk by parrots, as Aristotle assures us, by 

 which they are thus rendered more talkative 

 and amusing. But of all food, they are fond- 

 est of the carthamus, or bastard saffron; which, 

 though strongly purgative to man, agrees per- 

 fectly with their constitution, and fattens them 

 in a very short time. 



Of the parakeet kind in Brazil, Labat as- 

 sures us, that they are the most beautiful in 

 their plumage, and the most talkative birds in 

 nature. They are very tame, and appear 

 fond of mankind ; they seem pleased with 

 holding parley with him ; they never have 

 done ; but while he continues to talk, answer 

 him, and appear resolved to have the last 

 word : but they are possessed of another qua- 

 lity, which is sufficient to put an end to this 

 association ; their flesh is the most delicate 

 imaginable, and highly esteemed by those who 

 are fonder of indulging their appetites than 

 their ears. The fowler walks into the woods, 

 where they keep in abundance, but as they 

 are green, and exactly the colour of the leaves 

 among which they sit, he only hears their 

 prattle, without being able to see a single 

 bird ; he looks round him, sensible that his 

 game is within gun-shot in abundance, but is 

 mortified to the last degree that it is impossi- 

 ble to see them. Unfortunately for these little 

 animals, they are restless, and ever on the 

 wing, so that in flying from one tree to an- 

 other, he has but too frequent opportunities of 

 destroying them ; for as soon as they have 

 stripped the tree on which they sat of all its 

 berries, some one of them flies off to another ; 

 and if that be found fit for the purpose, it 

 gives a loud call, which all the rest resort to. 

 That is the opportunity the fowler has long 

 been waiting for ; he fires in among the flock, 

 while they are yet on the wing ; and he sel- 

 dom fails of bringing down a part of them. 

 But it is singular enough to see them whim 

 they find their companions fallen. They set 

 up a loud outcry, as if they were chiding their 

 destroyer, and do not cease till they see him 

 preparing for a second charge. 



But though there are so many motives for 

 destroying these beautiful birds, they are in 

 very gre#t plenty ; and in some countries on 

 the coast of Guinea, they are considered by 

 the negroes as their greatest tormentors. The 

 flocks of parrots persecute them with their un- 

 ceasing screaming, and devour whatever fruits 

 they attempt to produce by art in their little 



