Cassell's book of birds; vol. 1Brehm, Alfred Edmund
Science
Cassell's book of birds; vol. 1
Brehm, Alfred Edmund
Birds
The Tiriba is met with in many parts of the eastern coast of Brazil;
these birds abound in forests, and particularly in such as have not been
cleared; they are also found in great numbers on the sea-coast, and at no
great distance from human habitations. Except in pairing time, they are
always in large flocks, and if disturbed dart like arrows from the tops
of the trees, shrieking loudly. They climb very dextrously, employing the
beak freely, and carefully guarding their long tail from being injured
by the branches. It is very difficult for the sportsman to distinguish
them in their haunts, on account of their green colour, and if they
fear danger they will remain perfectly motionless and quiet. It is only
when flying that they raise their voices loudly and repeatedly. When
there are plantations near the woods, they will, like other parrots,
do considerable damage, but are less destructive to maize than to rice.
After breeding time they appear more numerously on the outskirts of the
woods, accompanied by their young, whom they feed out of their crops
until they have nearly attained their full size.
[Illustration: THE GARUBA (_Conurus luteus_).]
The nest is built in the hollow of a tree, and contains from two to three
white eggs. Some species, according to Schomburghk, are favourites with
the Indians, so that we often find whole flocks of tame parrakeets near
their settlements. The Brazilians generally place them on a stick, which
they fasten to the outside of their houses, fixing one end into the
plaster wall.
THE CAROLINA PARRAKEET.
The CAROLINA PARRAKEET (_Conurus Carolinensis_) is the only parrot found
in North America. Its length is from ten to twelve inches, and the
wing seven inches; the prevailing colour of the plumage is a pleasing
green, darker on the back, and somewhat yellowish on the under part;
the forehead and cheeks are reddish orange, as are likewise the back
of the head, shoulders, and wings. The neck is of a pure gold colour;
the large wing-covers olive-green, with yellow tips; the primary quills
deep purplish black; and the middle tail-covers near the shaft blue. The
female is of a paler colour than the male, and in the young the forehead
is of an uniform green.
The Carolina Parrakeets are found as far as forty-two degrees north
latitude, and seem to be capable of enduring very severe weather, for
Wilson tells us that he saw a flock of them fly screaming along the banks
of the Ohio, during a snow-storm in February. Solitary individuals are
sometimes met with still farther north, even as far as Albany; but these
are only such as have lost their way. The favourite haunts of these birds
are districts overgrown with a weed called wrinkled burdock, the seeds of
which they obtain in spite of its armature of strong thorns; they often
invade plantations in great numbers, and do much damage, destroying far
more than they eat, and are therefore bitterly hated by the owners, and
actively pursued.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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