THE CAROLINA PAROQUET. 3 



and out of the densest timber with perfect ease. Their call notes are shrill and 

 disagreeable, a kind of grating - , metallic shriek, and they are especially noisy 

 while on the wing. Among the calls is one resembling the shrill cry of a goose, 

 which is frequently uttered for minutes at a time. Formerly they moved about 

 in good-sized and compact flocks, often numbering hundreds, while now it is a 

 rare occurrence to see more than twenty together, more often small companies 

 of from six to twelve. When at rest in the middle of the day on some favorite 

 tree they sometimes utter low notes, as if talking to each other, but more often 

 they remain entirely silent, and are then extremely difficult to discover as their 

 plumage harmonizes and blends thoroughly with the surrounding foliage. 



They are most active in the early morning and again in the evening, while 

 the hotter parts of the day are spent in thick-foliaged and shady trees. They 

 are partial to heavily timbered bottom lands bordering the larger streams and 

 the extensive cypress swamps which are such a common feature of many of our 

 Southern States. Social birds as they are, they are rarely seen alone, and if 

 one is accidentally wounded, the others hover around the injured one until 

 sometimes the whole flock is exterminated. This devotion to one another has 

 cost them dearly, and many thousands have been destroyed in this way. 



Mr. E. A. Mcllhenny has kindly furnished me with the following notes on 

 their habits as observed by him in southern Louisiana, where the species was 

 still comparatively abundant a few years ago, but has now nearly disappeared: 



"The Carolina Paroquet may be looked for in this section about April 25, 

 or when the black mulberries begin to ripen. This fruit seemed to be their 

 favorite food, and in the morning, from sunrise to about 7 o'clock, and in the 

 evening, from 5 o'clock to sunset, at which hours they feed, they were to be 

 found in the mulberry groves. They spent the rest of the day and roosted at 

 night in the live-oak timber. In the morning, just before sunrise, they mounted 

 the tallest trees, congregating in small bands, all the while talking at a great 

 rate. As the sun rises they take flight for the nearest mulberry grove, where 

 they partake of their morning meal amidst a great amount of noise. After 

 they have eaten their fill they generally go to the nearest stream, where they 

 drink and bathe; they then go to some dense oak timber, where they pass the 

 heat of the day. After they get in the oaks they rarely utter a sound. In the 

 afternoon they go through the same performance, with the exception of going 

 to the water. 



"The flight of the Carolina Paroquet, once seen, is never to be forgotten; 

 it is undulating, somewhat like the woodpecker's, but very swift. While on 

 the wing they chatter and cry continually; this cry sounds like 'qui,' with the 

 rising inflection on the i; this is repeated several times, the last one being drawn 

 out like 'qui-i-i-i.' These birds are rarely met with in the summer, and I do 

 not think they nest here. They are most plentiful in May and September. In 

 the fall they feed on the fruit of the honey locust, and are then more often seen 

 on the ground." 



The total extermination of the Carolina Paroquet is only a question of a 

 few more years, and the end of the present century will probably mark their 



