310 THE CAROLINA PARROT. 



Psittacus carolinensis, Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 141. 



Carolina Parrot, Psittacus carolinensis, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. iii. p. 89. 



Psittacus carolinensis, Bonap. Syn., p. 41. 



Carolina Parrot, Psittacus carolinensis, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 545. 



Carolina Parrot, Psittacus carolinensis, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. i. p. 135. 



Male, 14, 22. 



South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and up the Mis- 

 sissippi to Kentucky. Abundant. Resident. 



Adult Male. 



Bill short, bulging, very strong and hard, deeper than broad, convex above 

 and below, with a cere at the base; upper mandible curved from the base, 

 convex on the sides, the margin overlapping, with an angular process, the 

 tip trigonal, acute, declinate, much exceeding the under mandible, which is 

 very short, broadly convex on the back, truncate at the extremity. Nostrils 

 basal, round, open, placed in the cere. Head very large. Neck robust. 

 Body rather elongated. Feet short and robust; tarsus scaly all round; toes 

 scutellate above, flat beneath, two behind and two before, the latter united 

 at the base; claws curved, acute. 



Plumage compact and imbricated on the back, blended on the head, neck, 

 and under parts. Orbital space bare. Wings long, second and third quills 

 longest. Tail long, wedge-shaped, of twelve, narrow, tapering feathers. 



Bill white. Iris hazel. Bare orbital space whitish. Feet pale flesh- 

 colour, claws dusky. Fore part of the head and the cheeks bright scarlet, 

 that colour extending over and behind the eye, the rest of the head and the 

 neck pure bright yellow; the edge of the wing bright yellow, spotted with 

 orange. The general colour of the other parts is emerald-green, with light 

 blue reflections, lighter beneath. Primary coverts deep bluish-green; se- 

 condary coverts greenish-yellow. Quills bluish-green on the outer web, 

 brownish-red on the inner, the primaries bright yellow at the base of the 

 outer web. Two middle tail-feathers deep green, the rest of the same colour 

 externally, their inner webs brownish-red. Tibial feathers yellow, the 

 lowest deep orange. 



Length 14 inches, extent of wings 22; bill along the ridge 1 T V, gap, 

 measured from the tip of the lower mandible, ^; tarsus |-, middle toe li. 



Adult Female. 



The female is similar to the male in colour. The upper figure represents 

 a kind of occasional variety, with fourteen tail-feathers. The specimen from 

 which the drawing was taken was shot at Bayou Sara, in Louisiana. 



Young Bird. 



The young bird is known by the comparative shortness of the tail, and the 

 uniform green colour of the head. 



