Notes on the Carolina Paroquet {Conurus carolinensis) in Florida. By Frank 



M. Chapman. 



Fifteen years ago, Paroquets were more or less generally distributed throughout 

 Florida and in many places were extremely abundant, and even at a more recent 

 date they were not uncommon in numerous localities, but to-day they have entirely 

 disappeared from the more settled portions of the state, and we may look for them 

 only beyond the bounds of civilization, indeed in regions which are practically 

 uninhabitable. In just what numbers they still exist it is impossible for us to say. 



Florida with its 58,000 square miles almost equals in area the whole of New 

 England, and contains immense tracts of land still terra incognita to the naturalist 

 so far as actual exploration goes, but the reports which we have received from 

 these regions through 'plunders' (men who shoot birds for the milliners) and hunters 

 who have visited them lead us to suppose that Paroquets may still be found in con- 

 siderable numbers. I refer to the immense hummocks and swamps bordering the 

 Gulf in western Florida, but more especially to that country known in part as 

 ' St. Johns Prairie ', a vast tract of totally uninhabited land lying south and 

 west of the headwaters of the St. Johns, north of the headwaters of the St. Lucie, 

 and between the Indian and Kissimmee Rivers, a country composed largely of 

 open saw-grass prairies, more or less under water, dotted with occasional clumps 

 of cypresses, pines or cabbage palms. Of the first named region, I have no personal 

 knowledge, but from it we receive information which is undoubtedly accurate con- 

 cerning the presence of Conurus in greater or less numbers (cf. Brewster, Auk, VI, 

 Oct., 1889, p. 336) ; of the latter place, I have been told, a visiting hunter found 

 Paroquets north of the north fork of the Sebastian River in large numbers no later 

 than last Spring (1888), a report in which I think we may place some confidence, 

 and my friend, Mr. George M. Field, found a small flock in the winter of 1887-88 

 in the vicinity of the headwaters of the St. Lucie. 



During two winters, 1886-87 and 1887-88, I had endeavored to obtain some 

 definite knowledge of the presence of Paroquets at any given locality, and although 

 making diligent inquiry while travelling or collecting, not once did I find a person 

 who could give me the positive information I desired. At Fort Myers, on the 

 Caloosahatchie, I interviewed several plume hunters familiar with the Okeechobee 

 region, but beyond two or three small flocks said to have been seen in the cy- 

 presses at the northeastern part of the lake they had no knowledge of them ; 

 however, from a dealer at Fort Myers, Mr. C. B. Cory obtained two skins taken 

 the preceding year (1887) on the Kissimmee, by a hunter who, the dealer in- 

 formed us, had nearly a hundred in his possession, all of which, except the two 

 procured, in too poor condition to be marketable. This is simply additional testi- 

 mony in support of the report I have since received from the St. Johns region, and 

 returning to Florida, the following year (1889), I determined to visit the east 

 coast and continue the hunt so far as circumstances would permit. 



Reaching the east peninsula opposite Micco, February 14, I heard here vague 

 rumors of Paroquets being found near the headwaters of the Sebastian River, a 

 small stream flowing from the interior into the Indian River at a point six miles 

 from our home. In less than a month these rumors assumed definite form in the 

 shape of three specimens shown me from the region in question, and securing a 

 boat I at once started with their captor for the scene of his success. 



