THE CAROLINA PARROT. 
147 
ma’am?’ this she invariably does to strangers. One 
day I went into the room where she was, and said, to 
try her, ‘ Poll, where is Payne gone?’ and, to my 
astonishment, and almost dismay, she said, ‘ Down 
stairs.’ I cannot at this moment recollect anything 
more that I can vouch for myself, and I do not choose 
to trust to what I am told ; but, from what I have 
myself seen and heard, she has almost made me a 
believer in transmigration.” 
The only member of this large family found in the 
United States is the Carolina Parrot, or Parrakeet ; 
which, although not so brilliantly attired as some of 
the species, is nevertheless a very beautiful bird, 
the predominating color of the plumage being a 
light green, tinged with purple on the wings. The 
head and upper part of the neck are rich yellow, 
with a patch of orange-red upon the forehead. Many 
years ago, before the Southern and Western States 
became thickly settled, this Parrot was very abun- 
dant in those parts, but we believe that it is now 
seldom found much to the eastward of the Mississippi 
river. It is represented as an active, sprightly bird, 
and very graceful in its motions upon the wing. In 
the Autumn, when the Cockle Bur (a very noxious 
weed) has ripened its seed, they assemble in vast 
flocks, and, resorting to the fields where it grows, 
they alight upon the plants, and plucking the burs 
from the stem with their bills, they take them in one 
claw, while with the bill they open it and take out 
the fruit. In this way, a single flock will, in a few 
days, entirely rid a large field of the ripened seed; 
