MORE ABOUT THE PARROT. 69 



But when I use the word food, I am forgetting 

 the Parrots. 



The tiresome cockle-burs are a rich harvest on 

 which the Parrots feed with delight. 



The Parrot settles on the plant, and plucks the 

 great bur from the stem, using his foot as a hand. 

 He turns the bur about until he gets it in a 

 right position. Then he strikes and tears it with 

 his bill, and soon splits it open. He takes out 

 the contents and eats them, letting the husk drop 

 on the ground. A flock of Parrots will busy 

 themselves in this manner until the field is almost 

 stripped. But, alas ! the cockle-bur is by no 

 means destroyed. Up it conies the next spring, 

 as abundant as ever ! 



Nor can we regard the Parrot as a benefactor. 

 He is nothing of the kind. He is not content 

 with usefully feeding on the cockle-bur. He eats 

 any kind of fruit or of grain that he can get, and 

 is not particular as to the way he procures it. 



When the farmer has stored up his stack of 

 corn in the field, you would think he had thrown 

 over it a carpet of brilliant colours. But you 



