246 CAR LENA PARROT. 
CAROBINA PARROT. —PSITTACUS CAROLINENSIS. — 
Fic. 120. 
Linn. Syst. 141. — Catesb. i 11.— Lath. i. 227.—Arct. Zool. 242, No. 132. Ibid. 
133. — Peale’s Museum, No. 762. 
CONURUS CAROLINENSIS. —Kuunv.* 
Conurus Carolinensis, Kuhl. consp. psitt. Nov. act. Ceas. Leop.tom. x. p. 4. 23.— 
Psittacus Carolinensis, Bonap. Synop. p. 41. f 
Or one hundred and sixty-eight kinds of Parrots enumerated by 
European writers as inhabiting the various regions of the globe, this 
is the only species found native within the territory of the United 
States. The vast and luxuriant tracts lying within the torrid zone 
seem to be the favorite residence of those noisy, numerous, and richly- 
plumaged tribes. The Count de Buffon has, indeed, circumscribed 
the whole genus of Parrots to a space not extending more than twenty- 
three degrees on each side of the equator; but later ‘discoveries have 
shown this statement to be incorrect, as these birds have been found 
on our continent as far south as the Straits of Magellan, and even on 
the remote shores of Van Diemen’s Land, in Terra Australasia. The 
species now under consideration is also known to inhabit the interior 
of Louisiana, and the shores of the Mississippi and Ohio, and their 
tributary waters, even beyond the Illinois River, to the neighborhood 
of Lake Michigan, in lat. 42 deg. north; and, contrary to the gen- 
erally received opinion, is chiefly resident in all these places. East- 
ward, however, of the great range of the Alleghany, it is seldom seen 
farther north than the state of Maryland, though straggling parties 
have been occasionally observed among the valleys of the Juniata; 
* Tn all countries Parrots have been favorites, arising from their playful and do- 
cile manners in domestication, the beauty of their plumage, and the nearly solitary 
example of imitating with comparative accuracy the voice and articulation of man. 
In ancient times, the extravagance with which these birds were sought after, either 
as objects of amusement and recreation, or as luxuries for the table, surpasses, if 
siecle the many fashionable maniz of Jatter days. We find frequent allusions 
to these birds both in the prose and poetical writers, railing against the expenses 
of price and maintenance, or.celebrating their docility, or their love and gratitude 
to ee mistress; and at the Bet and splendor of the then Mistress of the World, 
they were brought forward to the less honorable avocation of conveying praise 
and flattery to the great. At the present period they are much sought afler, and a 
“ good Parrot” will still bring a high price. : 
Intertropical countries are the natural abodes of the Psittacide, where they are 
gregarious, and present most conspicuous and noisy attraction, revelling in free or 
grotesque attitudes, among the forest and mountain glades, which, without these, 
and many other brilliant tenants, would present only a solitude of luxuriant vege- 
tation. It is impossible for any one who has only ‘seen these birds ina cage or 
small enclosure, to conceive what must be the gorgeous appearance of a flock, 
either in full flight, and performing their various evolutions, under a vertical sun, or 
sporting among the superb foliage of a tropical forest : 
In gaudy robes of many-colored patches, 
The Parrots swung like blossoms from the trees, 
While their harsh voices undeceived the ear. Ep. 
