THE OOLOGIST. 



215 



;unl loose debris in general, well heaped 

 up and well depressed in the center. 

 'They were sometimes so close together 

 that it must have been difficult for the 

 birds to incubate without touching each 

 other. The eggs commonly three, 2.07- 

 3. 50x1.63-1. 70, are drab, generally, some- 

 what olivaceous, variously specked, 

 spotted and blotched with shades of 

 dark brown and grayish brown. Often 

 the markings are very large and few in 

 number. There is much greater varie- 

 ty in the color, marking and size of the 

 eggs than in those of the common Gull. 

 The number of this species inhabiting 

 this island was immense. At certain 

 points along the shore, the water and 

 the beach were white with them; and 

 \vhen they rose, they spread out like 

 'clouds overhead. 



J. H. Langille, 

 Kensington, Md. 



P. S. — This article is the substance of 

 a discussion before the Ornithologists' 

 Association at Washington, D. C. 



Oct, 6, 1891. 



The Carolina Parrot. 

 (Conurus carolinensis.) 



Having been for several yeai's engag- 

 ed in the special study of the great 

 family of Parrots I have naturally given 

 a great deal of attention to the one 

 species which formerly inhabited the 

 greater portion of Eastern North Amer- 

 ica or more properly speaking that por- 

 tion of the United States lying east of 

 the Mississippi River and south of the 

 Great Lakes. 



This Parakeet was, during the time 

 •of Audubon, found in immense num- 

 bers in all of the Southern States and 

 as far north as Northern New York, 

 In a recent number of the "Auk" (See 

 Auk for October 1891) Mr. Hasbrouck 

 has this to say regarding the former 

 range of this bird to the north; "Accord- 

 ing to Barton, writing in 1790, a flock 



of Paroquets appeared in January about 

 twenty-five miles northwest of Albany, 

 New York, causing great alarm among 

 the simple Dutch folks who looked up- 

 on the advent of the birds as indicative 

 of coming evil. Audubon also states 

 (Birds of Am., ,Vol. IV, p- 309) that 

 about 1807 they could be procurred "as 

 far northeast as Lake Ontario." This 

 is presumably the most northern record 

 for the species." 



On November 1, 1889 Mr. F. M. Chap- 

 man read before a meeting of the Lin- 

 nean Society of New York, a paper en- 

 titled "Notes on the Carolina Paroquet 

 in Florida." In this paper, compiled 

 from personal observation, Mr. Chap- 

 man writes as follows: "Fifteen years 

 ago, Paroquets were more or less gen- 

 erally distributed throughout Florida 

 and and in many cases were extremely 

 abundant, and even at more recent 

 date were not uncommon in numerous 

 localities, but to-day they have entirely 

 disappeared from the more settled por- 

 tions of the state, and we may look for 

 them only beyond the bounds of civili- 

 zation, indeed in regions which are prac- 

 tically uninhabitable. In what num- 

 bers they still exist is impossible for us 

 to say." 



That they were once widely distri- 

 buted and that they are now confined 

 to a limited area is an undisputed fact. 

 On account of their great fondness for 

 fruit and consequent destructiveness 

 maybe attributed their early disappear, 

 ance from our midst as records show 

 that immense numbers were killed by 

 the farmers and fruit growers of the 

 southern states. Their destruction was 

 comparatively easy on account of their 

 habit of slaying in the immediate vicin- 

 ity of a wounded comrade till all were 

 destroyed. Then again immense num- 

 bers have been killed by plume hunters 

 in southern Florida, so that one desir- 

 ing to see this beautiful bird in its 

 haunts must now visit Florida "Ever- 

 glades." A few are found in southern 



