CAROLINA PARROT. 
Ill 
They are particularly attached to the large sycamores, in the hollow of 
the trunks, and branches of -which, ti:ey generally roost, thirty or forty, 
and sometimes more, entering at the same hole. Here they cling close 
to the sides of the tree, holding fast by the claws, and also by the bills. 
They appear to be fond of sleep, and often retire to their holes during 
the day, probably to take their regular siesta. They are extremely so- 
ciable with and fond of each other, often scratching each other's heads 
and necks, and always at night nesthng as close as possible to each 
other, preferring, at that time, a perpendicular position, supported by 
their bill and claws. In the fall, when their favorite cockle-burrs are 
ripe, they swarm along the coast, or high grounds of the Mississippi, 
above New Orleans, for a great extent. At such times they are kille\^ 
and eaten by many of the inhabitants ; though I confess I think their 
flesh very indifferent. I have several times dined on it from necessity 
in the woods ; but found it merely passable, with all the sauce of a keen 
appetite to recommend it.* 
A very general opinion prevails, that the brains and intestines of the 
Carolina Paroquet are a sure and fatal poison to cats. I had deter- 
mined, when at Big-Bone, to put this to the test of experiment ; and for 
that purpose collected the brains and bowels of more than a dozen of 
them. But after close search Mrs. Puss was not to be found, being en- 
gaged perhaps on more agreeable business. I left the medicine with 
Mr. Colquhoun's agent, to administer it by the first opportunity, and 
write me the result ; but I ha ve never yet heard from him. A respect- 
able lady near the town of Natchez, and on whose word I can rely, 
assured me, that she herself had made the experiment, and that, what- 
ever might be the cause, the cat had actually died either on that or the 
succeeding day. A French planter near Bayo Fourclie pretended to 
account to me for this effect, by positively asserting that the seeds of the 
cockle-burrs, on which the Paroquets so eagerly feed, were deleterious 
to cats ; and thus their death was produced by eating the intestines of 
the bird. These matters might easily have been ascertained on the 
spot, which, however, a combination of trifling circumstances prevented 
me from doing. I several times carried a dose of the first description 
in my pocket, till it became insufferable, without meeting with a suitable 
patient, on whom, like other professional gentlemen, I might conve- 
niently make a fair experiment. 
I was equally unsuccessful in my endeavors to discover the time of 
* Had our author been provided with proper apparatus to cook these birds, and 
suitable condiments, he would, doubtless, have been of a different opinion. Mr. T, 
Peale and myself, when in East Florida, where this species is found in great num- 
bers, thought them excellent eating. In Florida the Paroqnets are migratory. We 
saw the first flock of them, at the Cowford, on the river St. John, on the first of 
March: the greater part of them were males. — G. Ord. 
