120 PSITTACUS CAROLINENSIS, 
assured me, scarcely ever observe them in that quarter. 
In passing from that place to Nashville, a distance of 
two hundred miles, I neither heard nor saw any, but 
at a place called Madison’s lick. In passing on, I next 
met with them on the banks and rich flats of the Ten- 
nessee river : after this, I saw no more till I reached 
JBayo St Pierre, a distance of several hundred miles : 
from all which circumstances, I think we cannot, from 
the residence of these birds, establish with propriety 
any correct standard by which to judge of the com- 
parative temperatures of different climates. 
In descending the river Ohio, by myself, in the month 
of February, I met with the first flock of paroquets, at 
the mouth of the Little Sioto. I had been informed, 
by an old and respectable inhabitant of Marietta, that 
they were sometimes, though rarely, seen there. I 
observed flocks of them, afterwards, at the mouth of the 
Great and Little Miami, and in the neighbourhood of 
numerous creeks that discharge themselves into the 
Ohio. At Big Bone lick, thirty miles above the mouth 
of Kentucky river, I saw them in great numbers. They 
came screaming through the woods in the morning, 
about an hour after sunrise, to drink the saltwater, of 
which they, as well as the pigeons, are remarkably fond. 
When they alighted on the ground, it appeared at a 
distance as if covered with a carpet of the richest green, 
orange, and yellow : they afterwards settled, in one 
body, on a neighbouring tree, which stood detached 
from any other, covering almost every twig of it, and 
the sun, shining strongly on their gay and glossy 
plumage, produced a very beautiful and splendid appear- 
ance. Here I had ail opportunity of observing some 
very particular traits of their character: having shot 
down a number, some of which were only wounded, 
the whole flock swept repeatedly around their prostrate 
companions, and again settled on a low tree, within 
twenty yards of the spot where I stood. At each 
successive discharge, though showers of them fell, yet 
the affection of the survivors seemed rather to increase ; 
for, after a few circuits around the place, they again 
