Occasional Notes. 361 
come under my own eyes, in which the entire plumage 
had turned to yellow ; but I feel quite satisfied that but 
very few of these have been treated with frog's blood, 
with faroah or with any substance of similar purpose. On 
the other hand, among the numberless parrots of this 
same kind which are bought while still young from In- 
dians and introduced in cages, or in some sort of confine- 
ment, into civilized life, it is very rare to find any which 
have yellow feathers, or at least which after being caged 
produce more yellow feathers. It is, I think, therefore, 
obvious that this yellowing is caused by some of the 
conditions under which the birds live while in the semi- 
captivity imposed upon them by their Indian masters ; 
and it is, I also think, more probable that the efficient 
condition lies in their ordinary food than in any special 
application intended to change the colour. That the 
Indians when they do happen to have made such 
an application should see in the yellowing the re- 
sult of this action of theirs, is not discordant with 
the habit of thought of uneducated men all over the 
world ; nor is it discordant with that habit of thought 
that they often have under their eyes, without draw- 
ing logical inferences from, cases in which they see 
the effeft, the yellow colour, come where there has 
been no application of the cause which they suppose 
to be the necessary antecedent. 
Lastly, it will be as well to notice that, as has already 
been indicated, a somewhat analogous practice to this 
feather-culture of savages takes place, commonly enough 
among our own civilised selves. At any ordinary bird- 
show, canaries of a special breed the chief point and 
excellence of which is, I believe, the altogether un- 
