Until mid-day the flocks are busy satisfying their hunger, after which they fly to seek water, and then rest for some hours among the branches, chattering and screaming; but in spite of their noise they are difficult to find, owing to their green colour, which is scarcely distinguishable from the foliage; moreover, they are perfectly silent the instant that they observe anything unusual, or creep stealthily and quietly away if they fear pursuit. The longer you remain under a tree beneath the top of which you have just heard hundreds of voices, the stiller and quieter it becomes, until at last all is silent; one bird after the other has noiselessly crept away to a distance, from whence a joyful cry tells that their cunningly planned retreat is happily accomplished. Towards evening they again assemble, and make (if that is possible) a louder shrieking than before; for now the question is not only which is the best branch to rest upon, but the safest sleeping-place. During the spring time, when the woods are decked in magic beauty, the parrots always sleep in holes in trees, but in the dry season they prefer the foliage; leafless trees they consider dangerous. Although these birds fly well, their movements on the ground are clumsy, and even their climbing very awkward; their flight is extremely swift, but seems fatiguing; it requires many quick strokes with the wings, and changes into a hovering motion if the bird wishes to alight. Their gait can scarcely be called a walk, but rather a waddle; the body is swung forward, and the long tail carefully raised that it may not touch the ground. A party of Parrakeets progressing in this manner provokes involuntary laughter, as there is something most comically serious in their movements. The Rose-ringed Parrots breed during the African rainy season, which comes with the spring; at which time the gigantic Adansonias are crowned with their thickest foliage, and the numerous holes in their trunks hidden in the most desirable manner; here the breeding birds settle in parties, and after some strife about holes, the pairs live quietly together. In those parts of Africa through which we travelled, Europeans shoot these birds, but the natives never molest them with weapons, and only capture them when they have an opportunity of disposing of them alive. Notwithstanding the numbers in which they are found, it is not very easy to procure a specimen, as their cunning deceives even a practised sportsman, and renders his efforts fruitless. After some time, however, we learned to turn their tricks to their own disadvantage; when we found a party of them in the woods, one of us would creep to the nearest and thickest tree, while another disturbed that they were on; the consequence was that the parrots, as they tried to escape, generally fell victims to the marksman who was watching their arrival.