308 
THE CAROLINA PARROT. 
is kept up by the party, and it is seldom that one of these birds is on wing 
for ever so short a space without uttering its cry. On reaching a spot which 
affords a supply of food, instead of alighting at once, as many other birds 
do, the Parakeets take a good survey of the neighbourhood, passing over 
it in circles of great extent, first above the trees, and then gradually 
lowering until they almost touch the ground, when suddenly re-ascending, 
they all settle on the tree that bears the fruit of which they are in quest, or 
on one close to the field in which they expect to regale themselves. 
They are quite at ease on trees or any kind of plant, moving sidewise, 
climbing or hanging in every imaginable posture, assisting themselves very 
dexterously in all their motions with their bills. They usually alight 
extremely close together. I have seen branches of trees as completely 
covered by them as they could possibly be. If approached before they begin 
their plundering, they appear shy and distrustful, and often at a single cry 
from one of them, the whole take wing, and probably may not return to 
the same place that day. Should a person shoot at them, as they go, and 
wound an individual, its cries are sufficient to bring back the whole flock, 
when the sportsman may kill as many as he pleases. If the bird falls dead, 
they make a short round and then fly off. 
On the ground these birds walk slowly and awkwardly, as if their tail 
incommoded them. They do not even attempt to runoff when approached 
by the sportsman, should he come upon them unawares ; but when he is 
seen at a distance, they lose no time in trying to hide, or in scrambling up 
the trunk of the nearest tree, in doing which they are greatly aided by 
their bill. 
Their roosting-place is in hollow trees, and the holes excavated by the 
larger species of woodpeckers, as far as these can be filled by them. At 
dusk, a flock of Parakeets may be seen alighting against the trunk of a large 
sycamore or any other tree, when a considerable excavation exists within it. 
Immediately below the entrance the birds all cling to the bark, and crawl 
into the hole to pass the night. When such a hole does not prove sufficient 
to hold the whole flock, those around the entrance hook themselves on by 
their claws, and the tip of the upper mandible, and look as if hanging by the 
bill. I have frequently seen them in such positions by means of a glass, 
and am satisfied that the bill is not the only support used in such cases. 
When wounded and laid hold of, the Parakeet opens its bill, turns its 
head to seize and bite, and, if it succeed, is capable of inflicting a severe 
wound. It is easily tamed by being frequently immersed in water, and eats 
as soon as it is placed in confinement. Nature seems to have implanted in 
these birds a propensity to destroy, in consequence of which they cut to 
atoms pieces of wood, books, and, in short, everything that comes in their 
