THE CAEOLINA PAEROT. 525 



several words or even phrases. It is not, however, gifted with the extraordinary powers 

 of speech which are so wonderfully developed in the true Parrots, and on account of its 

 deafening cries is not an agreeable inhabitant of a house. 



The Macaws lay their eggs in the hollows of decaying trees, and are said to alter the 

 size and form of the hole to their" taste by means of their powerful beaks, a feat which 

 they certainly have the abihty to perform. The eggs are never more than two, and there 

 are generally two broods in the season. Both parents assist in the duties of incubation. 



The Great Green Macaw, a very splendid species, with green body, scarlet and blue 

 head, blue-tipped wings, and red and blue tail, is not so exclusively an inhabitant of the 

 forest nor so wary as the preceding species. Taking advantage of the labours of mankind, 

 it makes raids on the maize and corn fields, and does very great damage in a very short 

 time, for its appetite is voracious, and its beak powerful. Like most birds of similar 

 character, it never ventures upon one of these predatory excursions without placing a 

 sentinel on some elevated post where he can see the whole of the surrounding country, 

 and give the alarm to his comrades whenever he fears the approach of danger. So great 

 is the destruction wrought by these birds, that the agriculturists are forced to protect their 

 property by keeping a watch day and night over their corn fields from the time when the 

 grain begins to ripen to the day when it is cut and carried. 



During the rainy season these Macaws leave the country, and do not return until 

 January or February. 



The plumage of the Blue and Yellow Macaw is rather roughly set on the body, and is 

 thus coloured : The forehead is green, and the whole of the upper surface ; the wings and 

 tail are bright rich blue of a verditer east. The cheeks are white and nearly naked, and 

 below the eye are three delicate semilunar streaks of black. Below the chin is a broad 

 black band, which sweeps round towards the ears, and runs round nearly the whole of the 

 white space. The throat, head, and abdomen are rich golden yellow, and the under 

 surfaces of the wings and tail are also yellow, but of a more ochreous cast. The bill is 

 deep black, the eye yellowish white, and the legs and feet blackish grey. 



The entire length of this bKd is about forty inches, of which the tail alone occupies 

 nearly two feet. It is not, however, the largest species of Macaw, as the Eed and Blue 

 Macaw equals it in size. 



Another species of^ Macaw is found in the more northern portions of America, though 

 it is popularly called a Parrot, and not a Macaw. This is the well-known Carolina 

 Parrot, of which so much has been written by Wilson, Audubon, and other American 

 ornithologists. 



This bird is much more hardy than the generality of the Parrot tribe, and has been 

 noticed by Wilson in the month of February flying along the banks of the Ohio in the 

 midst of a snow storm, and in full cry. It inhabits, according to Wilson, " the interior of 

 Louisiana, and the shores of Mississippi and Ohio and their tributary waters, even beyond 

 the Illinois river, to the neighbourhood of Lake Michigan in latitude 42^ N"., and contrary 

 to the generally received opinion, is chiefly resident in all these places. Eastward, however, 

 of the great range of the Alleghany, it is seldom seen farther north than the state of 

 Maryland ; though straggling parties have been occasionally observed among the valleys 

 of the Juniata, and according to some, even twenty-five miles to the north-west of Albany 

 in the state of New York." These accidental visits are, however, rightly regarded by our 

 author as of little value. 



The Carolina Parrot is chiefly found in those parts of the country which abound most 

 in rich alluvial soils on which grow the cockle-burs, so dear to the Parrot and so hated by 

 the farmer. In the destruction of this plant the Carolina Parrot does good service to the 

 sheepowner, for the prickly fruit is apt to come off upon the wool of the sheep, and in 

 some places so abimdantly as to cover it with one dense mass of burs through which the 

 wool is hardly perceptible. The prickly hooks of the burs also break away from the fruit, 

 and intermingle themselves so thoroughly with the fleece that it is often rendered wortliless, 

 the trouble of cleansing it costing more than the value of the wool. 



Besides the cockle-burs, the beech-nut and the seeds of the cj^ress and other trees 



