﻿40 



iSrORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



old clearings and in scrubby second growth on the lower slopes. A 

 number of yellow-headed parrots came down every day to feed in the 

 trees, even among the houses, and did not i)ay the slightest attention 

 to passing people. As these birds readily learn to talk, they are highly 

 prized as pets, and are sold to visitors, or sent to towns on the main- 

 land; the birds taken while young being most highly prized on account 

 of their docility. The men search for their nests, and when one is 

 located the hunter strikes the base of the tree several sharp blows with 

 a stone or ax, and then places his ear against the trunk and listens. 

 He can tell whether the young are old enough to remove, by the strength 

 of the cries they utter in reponse to the blows on the tree. Being satis- 

 fied of the presence of his game, the hunter climbs the tree, and if 

 necessary cuts into the nest with his machete. Each brood contains 

 two young, which are carried to the ground inside the hunter's shirt. 

 By means of a noose on the end of a long cane, like a fishing rod, many 

 old parrots are captured while feeding. An old woman had twenty birds 

 which she had taken in this manner while they were feeding in the 

 top of a small Pithecolobium tree by her door. The hunters search for 

 regular feeding places in the forest and wait under the trees for the 

 birds to come. When the birds arrive, the end of the rod is slowly and 

 cautiously pushed up through the branches, the noose slipped over the 

 bird's head and drawn about its neck with a quick jerk, after which 

 the victim is hauled down and thrust into a cage. A favorite resort 

 for the parrots on Maria Madre was a group of trees about half a mile 

 from the settlement. The birds were very unsuspicious, and one could 

 walk up within 20 or 25 yards in full view and watch them without 

 their paying much attention. The parrots were constantly chattering, 

 and the greatest good comradeship seemed to prevail. Mates kept 

 close together and showed their attachment hj caressing and feeding- 

 one another at short intervals. The proficiency in speaking which some 

 of these birds attain is remarkable. The daughter of the customs 

 inspector on Maria Madre had one which afforded much amusement 

 by the variety of its remarks and their frequentl}^ absurd appropriate- 

 ness. Colonel Grayson supposed these birds to be peculiar to tlie Tres 

 Marias, as he did not chance to find them on the mainland. In reality, 

 they are widely distributed on both coasts of Mexico. 



After comparing the series taken on the islands with specimens 

 from both coasts of the Mexican mainland certain slight differences 

 are noticeable, but are too poorly defined to be worthy of subspecific 

 recognition. The island birds are usually apple green on the dorsal 

 surface, and mainland specimens are more of an oil green; the ventral 

 surface has a more decided bluish wash ; there is also tendency to a 

 richer suffusion of orange and orange red on the yellow feathers about 

 the necks of old birds. 



The following measurements show that the island birds are a little 

 larger than those of the mainland, with proportionately smaller bill and 



