The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-07-26
THE CAROLINA PAnOQUEr.

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 threatened with total extermination at an early date is that wonderfully beautiful creature, the Carolina paro- quet, the sole representative of the parrot family in the United States.
 Originally it's range extended over more than half of the country, from the Atlantic Ocean to Colorado and Indian Territory, and from Maryland, the Great Lakes and Iowa to the Gulf For more than hundred years this wide range has been grow ing narrower as civilization advanc- ed, until to-day the bird is not to be found save in few unsettled DOT tions of Florida and Indian Territory. Less than a century ago the Carolina paroquets swept the forests in whirl- ing clouds of green and yellow. To- day, even after a wearisome search, it would be difficult to find flock of twenty birds.
 The causes of this terrible diminu- tion in numbers have been many. In the first place, the bird was very des
 tructive to fruit orchards, and this made it necessary for the agricultur- ists to destroy 1t. A flock of paro- quets would alight in an orchard, and apparently just for fun and mischief. would twist off the apples or other fruit with their bills and strew them on the ground. Sometimes they would eat little of the fruit, but at other times they would not even taste it. Another cause was the beauty of the bird which induced professional bird catchers to trap it in great numbers. The barbarous custom, not yet obsolete. of wearing the feathers of wild birds as head ornaments, created a market for the dead bodies of paroquets, and caused hundreds of | thousands to be killed for millinery purposes. Then of course there were the "sportsmen." who murdered them
 wiped them out by wagon loads. just for the sake of the Sport" In ad- dition to all this, peculiar trait in the character of the birds themselves ! made it a simple matter for anyone de- string to do s0 to kill an entire flock at one shooting. Instead of flying clean away at the first report of a | gun, leaving their dead and wounded on the field, they immediately return | ed in response to the cries of their prostrate companions, and circled closely about, giving the gunners an opportunity which was seldom neg lected. This trait is well described | by Wilson, the ornithologist, who knew the paroquet when it was still numerous. Speaking of an occasion on which he shot a number, he says: I "At each successive discharge, though showers of them fell, yet the affection of the survivors seemed rather to increase; for after 8 few circuits around the place, they again alighted near me, looking down on
 their slaughtered companions. with such manifest symptoms of sympa-
 thy and concern as entirely disarm- ed me-"
 The Carolina paroquet is about
 twelve and a half inches long, includ- ing the tail, which is slightly longer
 than the head and body. The fore
 head and cheeks are orange, and the
 rest of the head and neck yellow; the
 bend of the wing. and the tibiae are 1 also yellow, and the rest of the plu-
 mage ie bright green with blue re-
 factions. The feet are flesh color, the
 claws black, and the bill, which is | shaped like that of all parrots, is
 white or creamy white The tongue is thick and f1eshy. The bird feeds
 chiefly on fruits and seeds, it's favor ite food being the seed of certain thistle, which is eaten at a stage when l it is milky When feeding it holds | it's food in one foot, sometimes the right and sometimes the left. It is | very fond of mulberries, and the fact that some specimens are found Witr the right and others with the left foot stained with the juice, the other
 foot being spotless, has given rise tc the belief that some paroquets are right handed and others left-handed l Whether this Is so or not am unable
 to say.
 ] Paroquets are fond of large dead 1 trees, in the hollow of which they ! roost, a number together, not only at night, but often in the middle of | the day as well. They cling to the side | of a hollow with their claws and bill
 also with the upper mandible be- | ing conveniently hooked and grOvec
 near the tip. They are sociable birds
 and seem fond of each other, for they
 nestle as close together as possible
 and often scratch each others heads
 with their bills. With kind treatmen1 they can be made very tame, though
 if annoyed they can inflict serious
 wounds with their bills. The great
 Wilson, wishing to study the disposi, ton of these birds, made a companion
 of one for many months, and it i; characteristic of the man, that he car ried it with him for 8 thousand miles