THE PARROT. 185 



pened to be near, hearing the cry, made to the place where 

 the Parrot was floating, and taking him up, restored him to 

 the king. As it seems the bird was a favorite, the man in- 

 sisted that he ought to have a reward rather equal to his 

 services than his trouble ; and, as the Parrot had cwed twenty 

 pounds, he said the king was bound in honor to grant it. 

 The king at last agreed to leave it to the Parrot's own deter- 

 mination, which the bird hearing, cried out, ' Give the knave 

 a groat: " 



The Parrot, which is so common as a foreign bird with us, 

 is equally so as an indigenous bird in the climates where it is 

 produced. The forests swarm with them ; and the rook is 

 not better known with us, than the Parrot in almost every 

 part of the East and West Indies. It is in vain that our 

 naturalists have attempted to arrange the various species of 

 this bird ; new varieties daily offer to puzzle the system-ma- 

 ker, or to demonstrate the narrowness of his catalogues. 

 Linnaeus makes the number of its varieties amount to forty- 

 seven ; while Brisson doubles the number, and extends his 

 catalogue to ninety-five. Perhaps even this list might be in- 

 creased, were every accidental change of color to be considered 

 as constituting a new species. But, in fact, natural history 

 gains but little by these discoveries ; and as its dominions are 

 extended it becomes more barren. It is asserted by sensible 

 travellers, that the natives of Brazil can change the color of 

 a Parrot's plumage by art. If this be true, and I am apt to 

 believe the information, they can make new species at plea- 

 sure, and thus cut out endless work for our nomenclators at 

 home. 



Those who usually bring these birds over, are content to 

 make three or four distinctions, to which they give. names; 

 and with these distinctions I will content myself also. The 

 large kind, which are of the size of a raven, are called mac- 

 caws ; the next size are simply called Parrots ; those which 

 are entirely white are called Lories ; and the lesser size of 

 all are called Parakeets. The difference between even these 

 is rather in size than in any other peculiar conformation, as 



