THE CAROLINA PARROT. 211 



about six inches in length, with snow-white breasts and slaty- 

 brown or blue backs, make their appearance in the neighbour- 

 hood of villages and farm-houses ; sometimes, indeed, coming 

 into towns as familiarly as sparrows. Their habits are very 

 like those of sparrows ; and when the snow deepens, they 

 mix with them, searching together for the seeds in the sheltered 

 corners of the fields, and along the borders of creeks and fences. 

 They differ from the snow-bunting of the far north, with 

 which they must not be confounded. In the summer they 

 make their way to the northern regions in large flocks, and 

 build their nests together, being of a very sociable disposition. 



THE CAROLINA PARROT. 



While viewing the birds of North America, we cannot pass 

 by the well-known, handsome Carolina parrot, which is, not- 

 withstanding its common name, a species of macaw. Large 

 numbers of these beautiful birds are seen winging their way 

 in compact bodies through the Southern States, flying with 

 great rapidity and uttering a loud outrageous scream, not 

 unlike that of the red-headed woodpecker. Sometimes their 

 flight is in a direct line, but generally they perform a variety 

 of elegant and serpentine meanders in their course through 

 the air. Often they may be seen pitching on the large syca- 

 more-trees, in the hollow trunks of which, as also among 

 the branches, they generally roost frequently forty and more 

 together. Here they cling close to the side of the tree, hold- 

 ing fast by claws and bill. No creatures can be more sociable, 

 and they may be observed scratching each other's heads and 

 necks, and always nestling closely together. 



Their plumage is mostly green washed with blue, but the 

 forehead is of a reddish-orange as are the shoulders, head, and 



