380 CAROLINA PARROT. 



the banks and rich flats of the Tennesee river : after this 

 I saw no more till I reached Bayo St Pierre, a distance of 

 several hundred miles : from all which circumstances, I think 

 we cannot, from the residence of these birds, establish with 

 propriety any correct standard by which to judge of the com- 

 parative temperatures of different climates. 



In ascending the river Ohio, by myself, in the month of 

 February, I met with the first flock of paroquets, at the mouth 

 of the Little Scioto. I had been informed, by an old and 

 respectable inhabitant of Marietta, that they were sometimes, 

 though rarely, seen there. I observed flocks of them, after- 

 wards, at the mouth of the Great and Little Miami, and in 

 the neighbourhood of numerous creeks that discharge them- 

 selves into the Ohio. At Big Bone Lick, thirty miles above 

 the mouth of Kentucky river, I saw them in great numbers. 

 They came screaming through the woods in the morning, 

 about an hour after sunrise, to drink the salt water, of which 

 they, as well as the pigeons, are remarkably fond. When they 

 alighted on the ground, it appeared at a distance as if covered 

 with a carpet of the richest green, orange, and yellow : they 

 afterwards settled, in one body, on a neighbouring tree, which 

 stood detached from any other, covering almost every twig of 

 it, and the sun, shining strongly on their gay and glossy plum- 

 age, produced a very beautiful and splendid appearance. Here 

 I had an opportunity of observing some very particular traits of 

 their character : Having shot down a number, some of which 

 were only wounded, the whole flock swept repeatedly around 

 their prostrate companions, and again settled on a low tree, 

 within twenty yards of the spot where I stood. At each succes- 

 sive discharge, though showers of them fell, yet the affection 

 of the survivors seemed rather to increase ; for after a few cir- 

 cuits around the place, they again alighted near me, looking 

 down on their slaughtered companions with such manifest 

 symptoms of sympathy and concern, as entirely disarmed me. 

 I could not but take notice of the remarkable contrast between 

 their elegant manner of flight, and their lame and crawling gait 



