THE AMAZON PARROT. 



311 



are inhabited by a species of Amazon. The habits of all these Parrots seem to be very similar, and a 

 good account of the Active Amazon of Jamaica (Chrysotis agilis) is given by Mr. Gosse* : " All the 

 Parrots are gregarious, cunning, watchful, noisy, mischievous ; and thus are like the Monkeys. This 

 and the Yellow-billed Parrot [Mr. Gosse's name for 0. agilis is the Black-billed Pai-rotJ are so much 

 alike in manners and general appearance, that a description, of one applies nearly to the other. Flocks 

 varying from half a dozen to twenty or thirty fly hither and thither over the forest, screeching as they 

 go, and all alight together on some tree covered with berries. Here they feast, but with caution. 

 On a slight alarm one 

 screams, and the whole 

 flock is on the wing, 

 vociferous if not musical, 

 and brilliant if not beau- 

 tiful, particularly when 

 the sun shines on their 

 green backs and crim- 

 soned wings. They gene- 

 rally prefer lofty trees, 

 except when, in June, 

 the ripe yellow plantain 

 tempts them to descend, 

 or when the blackberry 

 shines upon the pimento. 

 Of the latter the flocks 

 devour an immense 

 quantity, and the former 

 they destroy by cutting 

 it to pieces with their 

 powerful beaks, to get 

 at the small seeds. One 

 day in January, when 

 the pimento on the brow 

 of Bluefields Mountain 

 was about ready for 

 picking, being full-sized, 

 font yet green and hard, 

 I observed large flocks 

 of Black-bills, and a few 

 Pai'rakeets, flying to and 

 fro with voluble chatter, 

 now alighting to feed on 

 the hot, aromatic berry, 

 now flying off, and 



wheeling round to the same neighbourhood again. They were not at all shy, but, with unusual care- 

 lessness of one's proximity, scarcely moved at the report of the gun which brought their companions 

 to the ground. Of two which I shot on this occasion, I found the craws stuffed with the cotyledons 

 of the seed alone, the most pungently aromatic part of the berry ; the fleshy part having been, as I 

 presume, shorn off by the beak and rejected. When alighted, as is often the case, on a dry branch, 

 their emerald hue is conspicuous, and affords a fair mark for the gunner ; but in a tree of full foliage, 

 their colour proves an excellent concealment. They seem aware of this, and their sagacity prompts 

 them to rely on it for security. Often we hear their voices proceeding from a certain tree, or else 

 have marked the descent of a flock upon it, but on proceeding to the spot, though the eye has not 

 wandered from it, and we are therefore sure that they are there, we cannot discover an individual. 



* " Birds of Jamaica," p. 266. 



AMAZON PARROT. 



