PARROTS. 65 



purplish black ; and the middle tail-covers near the shaft blue. The female is of a paler colour than 

 the male, and in the young the forehead is of an uniform green. 



The Carolina Parrakeets are found as far as forty-two degrees north latitude, and seem to be 

 capable of enduring very severe weather, for Wilson tells us that he saw a flock of them fry 

 screaming along the banks of the Ohio, during a snow-storm in February. Solitary individuals are 

 sometimes met with still farther north, even as far as Albany ; but these are only such as have lost 

 their way. The favourite haunts of these birds are districts overgrown with a weed called wrinkled 

 burdock, the seeds of which they obtain in spite of its armature of strong thorns ; they often invade 

 plantations in great numbers, and do much damage, destroying far more than they eat, and are there- 

 fore bitterly hated by the owners, and actively pursued. 



We have full particulars of their life and habits from Wilson, Audubon, and the Prince 

 von Wied. "The Carolina Parrakeet," says Audubon, "eats or destroys all kinds of fruit, and is 

 on this account most unwelcome to the planter, the countryman, or the gardener. The stacks of 

 corn in the fields are often visited by large flocks, which hide them so completely that they present 

 the appearance of being covered with a brilliantly coloured carpet ; the birds hang round the 

 stacks, draw out the straws, and destroy twice as much of the corn as is necessary to satisfy their 

 hunger. They come in crowds to assail the fruit trees in a garden, pluck the fruits, bite them 

 open and take out the soft and milky kernel, proceeding industriously from branch to branch, 

 until the tree that had looked so promising is entirely stripped. It is easy to understand that these 

 attacks upon their property are avenged by the planters, and that regular war is waged against the 

 Parrakeets. Ten or twenty of them often fall at one shot, but the survivors always come back to 

 the same place, so that many hundreds are killed in the course of a few hours." The Carolina 

 Parrakeet," says Wilson, " is a very sociable creature. Should one of a flock be wounded, the rest 

 instantly return to it, uttering loud anxious cries, as they settle on the nearest tree. After repeated 

 shots they will not alter their behaviour, but come nearer and nearer to the fallen bird, and fly 

 around it with plaintive screams." 



It would be hard to find a greater contrast than is noticeable between the rapid flight of the 

 Carolina Parrakeets and their lame, helpless movements when on the branches of trees, and still 

 more when on the ground. They fly in closely-packed masses, rushing along with loud resounding 

 cries, generally in a direct line, sometimes in graceful curves, which they seem often to vary for their 

 own amusement. Their favourite trees are sycamores and plantains, in the hollows of which they find 

 a resting-place, and hang to the bark like woodpeckers, clinging by the beak and claws. They sleep 

 a good deal, retiring many times in the day to their holes to take a nap. They eat salt readily, and 

 for this reason are always to be found in great numbers near salt works. Wilson gives us the 

 following information concerning a Carolina Parrakeet that he tried to keep : — " As I was anxious to 

 learn whether this parrot would allow itself to be easily tamed, I took one under my care that had 

 been slightly wounded in the wing. I prepared for him a kind of bower at the stern of my boat, and 

 threw him burdocks, which he continued to eat from the time he came on board. The first day was 

 pretty equally divided between eating and sleeping, and at times he gnawed the bars of his cage. 

 When I left the river and travelled by land I carried my prisoner with me in a silk handkerchief, 

 disregarding all the difficulties which such an undertaking must involve. The road was bad beyond 

 description ; there were dangerous rivers and lakes to swim across, whole miles of morass and thicket 

 to encounter, and other hindrances to overcome ; many times the parrot came out of my pocket, 

 and I was compelled to dismount to seek for it amongst the brushwood. When we encamped in 

 forests I placed it on my little bundle near me, and took it up again in the morning, carrying 

 it in this manner more than a thousand miles. As soon as I reached the hunting-ground of 

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