PARROTS, KINGFISHERS, AND FLYCATCHERS* 



Strange Trogons and Curious Cuckoos are Pictured with 

 these Other Birds of Color, Dash, and Courage 



By Alexander Wetmore 



Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution 



THE place was the Gran Chaco in 

 South America, a vast terrain of 

 marsh-dotted savanna and thorny 

 jungle on the western border of the 

 Paraguay River. The time was Septem- 

 ber, early spring in the Southern Hemi- 

 sphere. 



As I awakened at dawn in a little grove 

 beside a lagoon, the morning air was so chill 

 that I welcomed the first warm rays of 

 the sun, though I knew that later the heat 

 would be intense. 



Purple-flowered trees made masses of 

 color at the edge of the forest, and from 

 all sides came the calls and songs of strange 

 birds. 



A group of Lengua Indians, employed in 

 cutting trails, squatted before a fire on 

 which something was boiling. 



In passing I was careful not to look into 

 the pot, as they might throw out the food 

 for fear my glance had cast a spell on it 

 that would make them ill. 



Suddenly I heard a succession of strident 

 calls from behind the trees and stepped out 

 into the open to watch a flock of parrots 

 crossing the sky. They flew with steady 

 wing beats, shrieking in constant raucous 

 chorus. 



Though in close flock formation, they 

 were grouped in pairs, male and female fly- 

 ing side by side. Their harsh calls came 

 to my ears long after they were out of 

 sight. 



Later in the day I found little flocks of 

 long-tailed parakeets feeding on the hard, 

 insipid fruits of a forest tree, while they 

 clambered through the branches by aid of 

 feet and bill. The ground was strewn 

 with husks, and there was a steady rasping 

 sound as they cut the fruits and cast away 

 the hulls. 



As I sat against a tree trunk that after- 

 noon, preparing notes and specimens, hid- 



* This is the fourteenth article, illustrated by 

 paintings by Maj. Allan Brooks, in the important 

 Geographic series describing the bird families of 

 the United States and Canada. The fifteenth arti- 

 cle, with color plates from paintings by Major 

 Brooks, will appear in an early number. 



den parrots called at intervals among the 

 trees. Before sunset small iiocks streamed 

 across the sky to some distant roost. 



WILD PARROTS IN THE UNITED STATES 



In pioneer days these scenes might have 

 been duplicated in many sections of the 

 eastern United States, as then a bird of this 

 family, the Carolina parakeet, ranged 

 widely from the Gulf coast northward 

 (Color Plate I and page 808). On frosty 

 mornings flocks of them gathered to feed 

 on cockleburs and other seeds. In summer 

 they penetrated far north into Wisconsin 

 and Ontario. 



Subsequently this parakeet became re- 

 stricted mainly to Florida and it now is 

 nearly extinct. 



Another native member of the parrot 

 family is found wild in the United States 

 on those rare occasions when the thick- 

 billed parrot comes from northern Mexico 

 into the mountain ranges of southeastern 

 Arizona (Color Plate I and page 809). 



Throughout the world there are nearly 

 800 different species and subspecies of par- 

 rots (family Psittacidae.) Although some 

 range into Patagonia, even to frigid Tierra 

 del Fuego, and the kea of New Zealand 

 lives in the interior mountains where win- 

 ter snows are deep, the large majority in- 

 habit warm parts of the earth. 



There are no parrots native in Europe, 

 nor in northern Asia. Their metropolis is 

 found in tropical America, Australia (page 

 826), and the East Indian region. 



Though the size and color of the many 

 forms of parrots are diverse, all have a 

 certain family resemblance. The strongly 

 hooked bill, rather heavy body, relatively 

 large head, and peculiar feet, with two toes 

 directed forward and two to the rear, com- 

 bine to identify these birds at a glance. 



In most members of the family the head 

 is round, but the cockatoos have large 

 crests in which a spot of color shows when 

 the feathers are thrown forward in display. 



Cockatoos, Amazon parrots, and many 

 other kinds have a square-cut tail. In 



801 



