34



Mr. E. W. Harper,



in addition to provisions, fruit, meat, fish, ice, poultry, etc., birds

are always on sale—Parrots “ in bulk ” (to use a commercial

expression) are kept by dealers in packing-cases, provided with

perches and covered with wire netting. Their chief food whilst

awaiting purchasers consists of sugar-cane and maize ; water, I

regret to state, is in some cases very seldom given. Considering

that a sugar-cane about ten feet long and an inch and a half thick

can be bought for id., this diet is decidedly economical ; it is

also much relished by the Parrots, which obtain from it food,

moisture and occupation. That bete-noire of Parrot-keepers-

—feather-plucking—is seldom seen. The commonest Parrot,

and I might almost say the commonest cage-bird , in Georgetown

is the Orange-winged Amazon (Chrysotis amazonica'), known

locally as the “screecher”—a name which it well deserves. In

private houses these birds are often chained by one leg to a

horizontal perch, nailed at right-angles to a board which hangs-

against the wall. They are also confined in circular-topped wire

cages about fifteen inches in diameter, fitted beneath with an

outside tin tray, through the turned-up edges of which a metal

pin runs. These excellent cages can be purchased for about 4/-

each, and last for years. Cheaper Parrot-cages have a solid tin.

top and bottom, with hollow tin bars and sliding door. As-

these have no removable bottom, the bird is able to enjoy a bath,

from the splashing which takes place during the weekly or

bi-weekly cleansing of the cage under the water tap. The local

price of the “ screecher ” is about 4/-. Many of them are hand-

reared by the aboriginal Indians, who bring them down the river

to town and sell them to local dealers. I once saw an East

Indian —an ex-cooly immigrant—with about two dozen adult

freshly-caught “screechers” in a box exposed for sale on the

foot-path at 2/6 each. They were savage as wolves, “ going for ”

the hand of the intruder with beak and claw. I11 answer to my

inquiry as to how he had caught them, the vendor said it was

done by slipping a noose, attached to the end of a stick, over the

head of the bird at night as it sat in a tree ; the catcher stealthily

climbing the tree for the purpose. Whether he was telling the

truth or not—perhaps looking on me as a rival catcher—I cannot

say ; but that is the method adopted in catching tree-lizards. In



