32 TlMEHRl. 
eating. Being very readily tamed, and being sufficiently 
hardy to live in cold climates, attempts have naturally 
been made to domesticate them here and in England. 
It is said that they have been successfully bred in Hol- 
land ; unfortunately, however, the domesticated birds, 
though they live and flourish, rarely breed. 
There are always at least a few, and often a very great 
many, parrots about. There are some thirty species of 
the parrot kind wild in Guiana, nearly all of which are 
more or less frequently tamed. The favourites, how- 
ever, are certain green kinds (Chrysotis ochrocephala, C. 
f estiva and C. asstiva), a pretty yellow and black kind 
(Caica melanocephala) called kurua-kurua by the Indians, 
of all parrots the cleverest at learning tricks, and a 
most beautiful bird of a general purple colour shaded 
into red {Pionus purpureus.) Another striking kind is 
the hia-hia (Deroptyus accipitrinas), called sun parrot 
in England. By the way, most of the Indian names for 
the various kinds of parrots are, as in the case of kurua- 
kurua and hia-hia, attempts to represent the natural cries 
of the birds. The body feathers of the hia-hia are of deep 
bright green, deeper and brighter than is usual among par- 
rots, and its head is quite covered by a crest of long blue, 
red and grey feathers. When angry or in any other way 
excited, it raises the feathers of this crest till they stand 
erect round the head, like a large bright-coloured nimbus, 
or perhaps it may better be compared to the circle of the 
peacock's tail. All these parrots fly freely about the huts, 
feeding on the refuse strewn around, and coming at 
regular intervals to take the food specially placed for 
them. They are generally quiet enough, but just before 
