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v,liicli is Ycry unpleasant, is lieard at a great 

 distance. Fortunatelj, tliis destructive race 

 does not arrive till aficr the harvest, and departs 

 befijrc the trees bet;!ri toput forth, otherwise they 

 woiihl lay -waste the whole country. It is in- 

 credible what havcc thev make while they slay, 

 as they devour not only the tops of the plants, 

 but even the roots. An inconceivable quantity 

 of tlioin is killed in the fields^ but so far from di- 

 minishing their numbers, on the contrary, they 

 appear to be increased at every return. When- 

 ever these birds alight upon a field, tlie hus- 

 bandrtien furnish themselves with long poles, and, 

 mounted on swift horses, fall upon th.em unex- 

 pectedly, and as tiiey are always in large flocks, 

 and keep very close together, they cannot flv off 

 so quickly but that great niuiibers of tlicm arc 

 generally left dead on the ground. The flesh is 

 delicious, and preferable to that of anv other 

 species of the parrot. 



Ill almost all parls of America is found a 

 sp'^cics of water-hen, v^illi armed wings, (-spe- 

 cially at Brasil, where it is called the jriCiina, 

 That of Chili, called the ///i'l;-/;^/ (parra Chilen- 

 sis) is of the size of a pie, but its legs are 

 longer ; its head is black, ornamcii'icd witli a 

 small crest, the neck, back, and upper part of the 

 wings are purple, the throat and upper part of 

 the breast black, and the bell v i^ white. The 

 C\\\l\h of the wings and Ihc'tail are ^liort ond gf 



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