190 THE PARROT. 



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 conversation 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 

 flavor, 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 flavor 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 insup- 

 portably bitter if the berries they feed on are of that quality. 

 The seed of the cotton tree intoxicates them in the same 

 manner as wine does man j and even wine itself is drunk by 

 parrots, as Aristotle assures us, by which they are thus ren- 

 dered more talk ative and amusing. But of all food, they are 

 fondest of the carthamus, or bastard saffron ; which, though 

 strongly purgative to man, agrees perfectly with their consti- 

 tution, and fattens them in a very short time. 



Of the parakeet kind in Brasil, Labat assures us, that they 

 are the most beautiful in their plumage, and the most talka- 

 tive birds Jn 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 quality, 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 color of the leaves among which 



