308 THE CAROLINA PARROT. 



is kept up by the party, and it is seldom that one of these birds is on wing 

 for ever so short a space without uttering its cry. On reaching a spot which 

 affords a supply of food, instead of alighting at once, as many other birds do, 

 the Parakeets take a good survey of the neighbourhood, passing over it in 

 circles of great extent, first above the trees, and then gradually lowering 

 until they almost touch the ground, when suddenly re-ascending they all 

 settle on the tree that bears the fruit of which they are in quest, or on one 

 close to the field in which they expect to regale themselves. 



They are quite at ease on trees or any kind of plant, moving sidewise, 

 climbing or hanging in every imaginable posture, assisting themselves very 

 dexterously in all their motions with their bills. They usually alight 

 extremely close together. I have seen branches of trees as completely 

 covered by them as they could possibly be. If approached before they begin 

 their plundering, they appear shy and distrustful, and often at a single cry 

 from one of them, the whole take wing, and probably may not return to the 

 same place that day. Should a person shoot at them, as they go, and wound 

 an individual, its cries are sufficient to bring back the whole flock, when the 

 sportsman may kill as many as he pleases. If the bird falls dead, they make 

 a short round, and then fly off. 



On the ground these birds walk slowly and awkwardly, as if their tail 

 incommoded them. They do not even attempt to run off when approached 

 by the sportsman, should he come upon them unawares; but when he is seen 

 at a distance, they lose no time in trying to hide, or in scrambling up the 

 trunk of the nearest tree, in doing which they are greatly aided by their 

 bill. 



Their roosting-place is in hollow trees, and the holes excavated by the 

 larger species of Woodpeckers, as far as these can be filled by them. At 

 dusk, a flock of Parakeets may be seen alighting against the trunk of a large 

 sycamore or any other tree, when a considerable excavation exists within it. 

 Immediately below the entrance the birds all cling to the bark, and crawl 

 into the hole to pass the night. When such a hole does not prove sufficient 

 to hold the whole flock, those around the entrance hook themselves on by 

 their claws, and the tip of the upper mandible, and look as if hanging by the 

 bill. I have frequently seen them in such positions by means of a glass, 

 and am satisfied that the bill is not the only support used in such cases. 



When wounded and laid hold of, the Parakeet opens its bill, turns its 

 head to seize and bite, and, if it succeed, is capable of inflicting a severe 

 wound. It is easily tamed by being frequently immersed in water, and eats 

 as soon as it is placed in confinement. Nature seems to have implanted in 

 these birds a propensity to destroy, in consequence of which they cut to 

 atoms pieces of wood, books, and, in short, every thing that comes in their 



