GREEN PARROTS 21 
any less optimistic bird would be greatly depressed at 
having to go through life with a note which, to put it 
mildly, is an exceedingly harsh squeak. The parrot, 
however, so far as one can judge, is very proud of its 
voice. It never loses an opportunity of making itself 
heard. During its flight it habitually emits loud 
screeches, Not only is the note harsh and loud, there 
is in addition something particularly offensive in it. 
What exactly this is, it is difficult to say, but I feel sure 
that every one will agree with me when I say that the 
bird’s call is such as to make one want to punch its 
head ! 
Evil though their character be, we must admit that 
green parrots are very beautiful objects. They are 
ornaments to the scenery of the country. As they fly 
through the air, they look truly magnificent ; Lockwood 
Kipling has happily called them “live emeralds in the 
sun.” 
Parrots are eminently social birds. They almost 
invariably hunt in little parties of six or seven. They 
rarely, if ever, alight upon the ground. They delight 
to sit upon the topmost boughs of trees. At night, they 
roost together in large flocks, not infrequently in com- 
pany with crows and mynas, 
Green parrots nest in holes. They, as a rule, exca- 
vate their own dwellings, their powerful beak being 
their spade. Green parrots, 1 think, sometimes utilize 
a ready-made hole in a tree, if one happens to be avail- 
able. They certainly often nest in holes in buildings, 
I have been assured that these birds sometimes 
themselves excavate holes in buildings constructed of 
