34 TlMEHRI. 
lis). These are long-tailed parroquets, with a little green 
in the tail and wings, but elsewhere covered with a 
bright yellow all over, except for a shading of deep 
red about the head. Their colour may be most accu- 
rately represented by saying that it is exactly like that 
of a ripe sun-reddened apricot. In a wild state they 
live only far from the sea-coast, chiefly among the 
Pacaraima mountains, where they are very abundant. 
It is therefore chiefly in the settlements of the Arecuna 
Indians, who live in and about those mountains, that 
these birds are tamed. They seem to be especial favour- 
ites with the Indians, probably because of their bright 
and unusual colour. Sometimes as many as twenty or 
thirty belong to a single house. The whole of this flock 
returns of its own accord to pass the night generally 
in a big goobie — the shell of a gourd the contents of 
which have been removed. Near the foot of the Paca- 
raima range some Indians one day brought me two 
goobies, one containing twenty, the other seven keatzi. 
A more beautiful and interesting sight than the twenty- 
seven little fellows running in and about the house I 
never saw. Though the two sets associated freely 
during the day, yet at night they always separated, each 
of its own accord returning to its own goobie, the one 
being put out at night on one side of the house, the 
other on the other. If by mistake the goobies were 
not put ready for the birds in time, then there was 
a riot ; the two parties used to come up to the house 
and inflict the most horrible chattering and scolding; 
and the same thing used to happen regularly at midday 
and evening if their food had been accidentally withheld. 
