CAROLINA PARROT 



99 



these birds, in all their grades of progressive change from green to 

 yellow, have been deposited in Mr. Peale's museum. 



What is called by Europeans the Illinois Parrot, (Psittacus 

 pertinax) is evidently the young bird in its imperfect colors. Whe- 

 ther the present species be found as far south as Brasil, as these 

 writers pretend, I am unable to say ; but from the great extent of 

 country in which I have myself killed and examined these birds, I 

 am satisfied that the present species, now described, is the only one 

 inhabiting the United States. 



Since the foregoing was written I have had an opportunity, 

 by the death of a tame Carolina parakeet, to ascertain the fact of 

 the poisonous effects of their head and intestines on cats. Having 

 shut up a cat and her two kittens, (the latter only a few days old,) 

 in a room with the head, neck, and whole intestines of the Para- 

 keet, I found on the next morning, the whole eaten except a small 

 part of the bill. The cat exhibited no symptom of sickness ; and 

 at this moment, three days after the experiment has been made, 

 she and her kittens are in their usual health. Still, however, the 

 effect might have been different, had the daily food of the bird 

 been cockle burrs, instead of Indian corn. 



