PAEEOTS. 
15 
lateral feathers, Avith part of the inner AA’eh, rich yellow, 
increasing in extent to the outermost, where the whole 
of the weh, with the exception of a small spot at the 
tip, is of that colour ; quills, with the inner Avehs, 
dusky, and each with a large owal central spot of 
King’s yelloAA', forming abroad fascia on tlie under side 
of the wings ; legs and toes grey, the lateral mem- 
branes broad ; the claws strong and greatly hooked.* 
Such is the gorgeous plumage of this splendid bird. 
The Carolina Parrot (Psittacus CaroUnensis) is a 
native of the southern districts of the United States, 
frequenting the Ioav alluvial grounds along the Ohio 
and Mississippi, where the cockle-bur (Xantliium stru^ 
marium) groAVS in abundance, on the fruit of Avhich it 
feeds, extricating the seeds from the prickly shells ; it 
adds, hoAvever, grain, fruits, apples, mulberries, grapes, 
etc., to the bill of fare, and as it associates in flocks, 
the farmer often suffers from its depredations. It 
must not be supposed that these flocks commit their 
ravages with impunity, the gun thins their numbers ; 
and as the living birds SAveep screaming around their 
dead and Avounded companions, and settle again in the 
place of danger, the whole flock is sometimes almost 
entirely extirpated. The flight of this species is rapid, 
graceful, and direct, and a general cry is kept up by 
the whole party Avhile on the wing. The movements 
of these birds on the ground are sIoav and embarrassed, 
but on trees or tall strong plants they are very active, 
climbing about and hanging in every attitude. They 
roost in holloAV trees, and incubate in similar cavities, 
many females, as Audubon assures us, depositing their 
* Naturalists’ Library, vol. vi. 
