149



My other Parrots were—a Mealy Amazon, a most talented

and charming bird, with a great gift for reproducing native

conversations, quarrels, preaching, songs, and laughter, without

perhaps actually forming the words ; two Blue-fronted Amazons,

very different in markings, shape, and character ; a Yellow-

naped Amazon, a clever mimic ; a Red-vented Piomis, tame and

affectionate but no talker ; a Senegal, which acquired a few

words in a small, throaty voice ; a Canary-winged Parrakeet, a

fierce and fearless little creature, but absolutely devoted to the

only two people for whom he had room in his heart. This little

bird acted as watch-dog to his master to such purpose that the

barefooted black servants had often to flee before his furious

attacks.


With the exception of the Canary-wing, which had to be

caged sometimes lest he should be trodden upon, the Parrots,

though they could all fly more or less, were alwa} r s at liberty

about the house and garden, and would almost invariably come

home at night or when called. One could thus learn something

of their natural habits. I am not surprised to hear that some

naturalists place Parrots very high, if not first, in the scale of

birds. They show undoubted powers of memory, reason, dis¬

crimination among persons, determination, resource, sense of

fun, and their power of speech is by no means their only

attraction. I think, on the whole, the Double-fronted Amazon—

a bird that conies to us from the little - known Island of

Margarita—is the liveliest and most fascinating Parrot I know.


It would indeed be a thousand pities if the unique and

beautiful Chrysotis guildingi were to die out, as has been the

case with other rare Parrots ; but from careful enquiries made

recently, we felt assured that there is no danger of this calamity.

The birds are to be found only in the high woods ; they are said

by the natives to go about in flocks varying from 20 to 30, but I

think myself, from what I have heard from trustworthy sources,

that the numbers would more probably range from six to a dozen.

No doubt many perished in the ’98 hurricane—the hurricane

which, we fear, completely wiped out the smallest of the three

species of Humming Birds known in St. Vincent—and some

were destroyed by the natives in the weeks immediately follow¬

ing. But we heard that this year the birds had been seen in their

usual numbers in their usual haunts, and, thanks to the in¬

accessibility of these wild parts and the lack of enterprise

among the natives, their numbers are not likely to be sensibly

diminished in the ordinary course of events.



