324 BIRDS OF BRITISH GUIANA, 



mix with the wild birds during the day and return to the setthnient 

 towards evenino-. They pick up the different sounds in the settle- 

 ment and imitate the crowino; of the cock, barking ot' the dogs, 

 the crying of the children, etc. The fondness shown by the 

 parrots and monkeys to the native children is very striking, and 

 he had rarely seen any of the latter at play without a monkey or 

 parrot taking part. 



The savoury flesh of this bird, its fine plumage, and the ease 

 with which it is tamed makes it much sought after. 



At dawn innumerable pairs emerge from the woods, and 

 towards dusk return, calling wildly all the time. They are 

 especially fond of the shoots of the legnminosen trees, and when 

 a hundred are feeding on a tree one only • hears a subdued 

 murmur from them, and tlie falling of the empty pods makes a 

 considerable rustling among the undergrowth. It requires a keen 

 eye to discover a bird among the foliage. When a flock leaves a 

 tree they usually utter their unpleasant wild cry. This bird nests 

 in holes in trees, often using those made by Woodpeckers. The 

 "Macnsis" call it Worrokeh. 



Mr. (J. A. Lloyd, writing on Guiana Parrots, remarks as follows 

 (Timehri (2) ix. p. 271) : — " Three other species of the genus 

 Chry^olis have been reported from here, but they are not so com- 

 monly seen except as cage-birds. One, C. oclirocepliala, the true 

 Amazon, is only obtained far in the interior and never appears to 

 visit the coast. The Indians assert that this species frequently 

 l)reeds in company with C. oniazojiica, and that young birds of 

 both species are often taken from the same nest. It is not un- 

 common to meet with specimens of C. ochrocephala having the 

 feathers alternately green and yellow, giving the bird a checkered 

 appearance ; this abnormal arrangement of plumage is said to be 

 due to their feeding exclusively on Indian corn.'" 



Mr. Beebe (Our Search for a Wilderness, p. 66) writes : — 

 "The big Yellow-fronted Amazon Parrot. These birds usually 

 nest in hollows in the tops of the tallest and most inaccessible 

 trees. The entrance is rectangular, about three by six inches, and 

 some five feet above the ground. We cut a hole in the trunk 

 near the ground, and there find the nest of the Parrot. Three 

 white eggs, one of which is pipj^ed, and a young bird just hatched 

 reward us, all resting on a bed of chips. The diminutive Polly 

 is scantily clothed with white down." 



