118 MEALY AMAZON. 



in our woods, were it not for gamekeepers, and sporting farmers, who 

 invariably shoot every strange bird they come across, even when they 

 are perfectly aware that it belongs to a next-door neighbour. On the 

 other hand, the wood-cutting propensity of this creature would make 

 it an undesirable one to turn adrift in a plantation, where, with nothing 

 else to do, it would beguile the time by lopping off the terminal shoots 

 of the trees; being particularly fond of mutilating pines and firs. 



Like most of its congeners, the Mealy Amazon, in its native wilds, 

 burrows in the decayed branches or trunks of trees, and lays its eggs 

 and brings up its young in no other situation. According to Prince 

 von Wied, the latter are greyish blue on the top of the head; but Dr. 

 Euss considers that this appearance is not constant, and has seen others 

 with red and yellow in the same position. The powder, however, with 

 which these birds, old and young, are so plentifully besprinkled, masks 

 their colours so effectually, that unless they could be brushed, it would 

 be extremely difficult to say they were anything but greenish grey. 



In stuffed specimens, of course, the natural colouring is more per- 

 ceptible, but when the bird is alive, the curious secretion to which 

 this Amazon owes its trivial name, covers all; and, together with the 

 large size of the bird, makes it impossible to mistake this species for 

 any other. 



