GREY PARROT. 51 



we could not get sight of them. Thus they remained for some little 

 time, when at last one came down, and I could not restrain the temp- 

 tation to shoot it. At the discharge of the gun a multitude suddenly 

 burst from their concealment and dispersed with deafening screams. 

 Picking up my prize we walked cautiously forwards until we observed 

 at a distance in front of us another troop — or it might have been the 

 one we had disturbed — on the highest branches of an exceedingly large 

 tree. In half an hour we reached the spot, where we found numbers 

 of large trees with foliage so thick that we could not see any Parrots. 

 While waiting and eagerly watching we again heard the falling of 

 empty husks, and at the same time observed a movement among the 

 leaves of a palm tree. On closer inspection we could see our birds, 

 and as we had no desire to cause another Parrot revolution we left 

 them to eat their palm nuts in peace. It being now about five o'clock 

 in the afternoon, and the sun setting at six, we had only an hour left 

 at our disposal to seek after the nests. My companion being more 

 likely, from his experience, to spy out the nests quicker than myself, 

 I set him to inspect the trees within a short circuit, while I remained 

 at that spot, and arranged that he should inform me of the discovery 

 of a nest by imitating the call of the Wood Kingfisher {Halcyon dry as). 

 Soon after the sudden signal of my black man informed me that he 

 had been successful in finding nests: repeating the call alternately, I 

 at last got up to the place where he was, and the position of the nest 

 was pointed out to me. A hole in the trunk of one of the trees was, 

 according to my man, the home of a pair of Parrots. Knowing from 

 experience how sharp-eyed these fellows are, I was quite sure that 

 something Parrot-like would be found inside the hole. Darkness was 

 now coming on fast, and it being too late to do anything that night, 

 we marked the tree by fastening some palm-leaves on the trunk, and 

 left the breeding pair inside the hole undisturbed till next morning. 

 While thus occupied, troops of Parrots approached from different sides 

 and settled among the trees. As for ourselves we found a capital 

 shelter under a clump of bushes, where we concealed ourselves, and 

 from there observed unperceived the doings of the Parrots around us. 

 Some were climbing and hanging on the branches, others flying and 

 scampering through the foliage; we saw them perching close to each 

 other, and afterwards five or six settled just above our shelter. Numbers 

 came from all sides, and the chattering which we had previously heard 

 at the distance was by this time close to us. There was a noise of 

 whistling, screaming, quarrelling, and the breaking of dead branches. 

 We saw them pass before us and settle on the trees: at this time we 

 must have been surrounded by hundreds of Parrots. Being now almost 



