66 cassell's book of birds. 



the Chickasaws I was surrounded by these people — men, women, and children — who regarded my 

 companion with great astonishment and loud laughter, calling it in their language ' Kelinky ;' indeed, 

 Polly was ever after a bond of friendship between us. When I reached my friend Dunbar's house 

 J procured a cage, and placed it in the verandah ; from whence my captive used to call to the flights 

 of Parrakeets that sped over the place, and day by day we had numerous troops of them hovering 

 about, keeping up a lively conversation. One whose wing was slightly wounded I placed in Polly's 

 cage, to the great delight of the little solitary, who approached it instantly, and whispered her 

 sympathy at its accident, stroked its neck and head with her beak, and took it to her heart at once. 

 The new comer died, and Polly was for many days inconsolable and restless. I then placed a 

 looking-glass near to the place where she usually sat. My ruse succeeded, her happiness was restored, 

 and for a time she was beside herself with joy. It was quite touching to see her, as evening 

 approached, laying her head on the image in the glass, and testifying her happiness by a gentle note. 

 After some time she learned her name, and answered to it ; she would climb up my body, perch on 

 my shoulder, and take bits from my mouth : there is no doubt that I could have succeeded in 

 training her, had not an unlucky accident caused her death ; she left her cage one morning before 

 I rose, and was drowned in the Gulf of Mexico." 



The Prince von Wied substantiates the preceding account ; he found these Parrakeets in the 

 early spring in enormous numbers near the Mississippi, and they have been also seen near the 

 Lower Missouri, but never towards the upper part of that river. The Indians in the neighbourhood 

 of Fort Union wear the skins of these birds as ornaments on their heads. 



THE CHOROY. 



The Choroy of the Chilians {Enicognathis leptorhynchus) is well deserving of notice, on account 

 of the peculiar shape of its beak. There is nothing particularly striking in the plumage, which is of 

 a nearly uniform dark green, blueish on the wings, their tips being spotted with black ; the tail-feathers 

 are brownish, and blood red at the tip. The bird is green above, with a red streak upon the brow, red 

 cheek-stripes, and a few insignificant dark bands on the top of the head, which are visible through the 

 points of the corresponding feathers ; the lower part of the body is green, with red spots between the 

 thighs, larger in the male than in the female. Its length is about fourteen inches, six and a half of 

 which belong to the tail. The Choroy reminds us of the Long-beaked Cockatoo, on account of its 

 prominent and elongated upper mandible, and we are told that its habits are similar. These birds 

 congregate in troops of many hundreds, and the noise they make is almost deafening. They are 

 most destructive to maize and wheat fields, and also to apple-trees, the fruit of which they gather only 

 for the sake of the pips. This species is found over large tracts of the Pampas, and is rather a ground 

 than a tree bird. 



THE LONG-TAILED PARROTS, OR PARRAKEETS. 



The Long-tailed Parrakeets (Palceornithes) inhabit the Old World, and notwithstanding the 

 peculiarities whereby the different families are characterised, bear a common impress. All are 

 distinguished by their very slender shape and pointed tail of the same length as the body, and 

 by their flowing, magnificently-coloured plumage. They are distributed over the whole of Central 

 and Southern Africa, a great part of India and Australia, and in favourable situations are met with in 

 large flocks. The Australian type differs from the Asiatic and African principally in having a com- 

 paratively broad tail, and is on that account often referred to another group. 



