426 
PARROT. 
tree to another he has but too frequent opportunities 
of destroying them. They chiefly feed on berries ; 
and as soon as one tree is stripped, a messenger 
flies off* to another ; and if that will afford a repast, 
he calls the rest by a particular note, which they all 
immediately obey. This opportunity is embraced 
by the fowler, who fires in among the flock while 
they are yet on the wing, and seldom fails to bring 
down a part of them. When they see their com- 
panions fall they make a hideous noise, as if they 
were chiding the destroyer ; this they continue to 
do without ceasing till they see him preparing to 
fire again. 
We have already observed that the savages gene- 
rally take the parrots in their nest, as they are ea- 
sily reared, and soon educated. But the Caribbs, ac- 
cording to Labat, catch them also after they are 
old : they observe the trees on which they perch in 
great numbers in the evening, and after dark they 
carry some lighted coals to the spot, on which they 
throw gum and green pimento : the birds, involved 
and stifled in the thick smoke, fall to the ground, 
and are seized by the savages, who tie their feet to- 
gether, and recover their lost senses by throwing- 
water on their heads. They have another way of 
bringing down the parrots without hurting them 
much, by shooting them with very long arrows 
headed with a ball of cotton. However, the old 
birds thus caught are very difficult to tame, and 
these people have but one method to render them 
tractable : this is by blowing the smoke of tobacco 
