PARROTS.
Their Peculiar Manner of Climbing--Points of Resemblance with
Monkeys--Their Social Habits--Their Connubial Felicity--
Inseparables--Talent for Mimicry--Wonderful Powers of Speech and
Memory--Their Wide Range within the Temperate Zones--Colour of
Parrots Artificially Changed by the South American Indians--The
Cockatoos--Cockatoo Killing in Australia--The Macaw--The Parakeets.
The parrots have so many points of resemblance with the monkeys
in their tastes and habits, that, notwithstanding their different
appearance, one might almost be tempted to call them near relations.
A constant restlessness is peculiar to both. Most animals love repose
after meals, but not so the monkeys and the parrots, who, contrary
to the general rule, only remain quiet while they are eating. At
other times the former are always in motion, chattering or screaming,
hanging from the boughs, or swinging to and fro like rope dancers, or
jumping from branch to branch, or climbing to the top of the highest
trees; and the parrots behave exactly in the same manner. They also
are constantly screaming, flying or climbing about, when not eating a
banana or cracking a nut; they also are particularly noisy before going
to sleep.
As the monkey seldom or never sets his foot on even ground, but
climbs or springs from branch to branch, thus also the parrot will
rarely be seen walking; his flight is rapid, but generally only of
short duration, so that evidently neither the ground nor the air were
destined for his habitual abode. In climbing, however, he shows an
uncommon expertness and agility, unlike that of any other quadruped
or bird, as the organ he chiefly uses for the purpose is his beak.
He first seizes with his powerful mandibles the branch he intends
to ascend, and then raises his body one foot after the other; or if
he happens to have a sweet nut in his bill which he is anxious to
preserve, he presses his lower mandible firmly upon the branch, and
raises himself by the contraction of the muscles of his neck. On
descending, he first bends his head, lays the back of his beak upon
the branch, and while the extended neck supports the weight of the
body, brings down one foot after the other. While accidentally walking
on even ground, he also frequently uses his upper mandible as a kind
of crutch, by fixing its point or its back upon the ground; for the
formation of his toes is such, that he can walk but very slowly, and
consequently requires the aid of that singular support. Thus monkeys
and parrots are, in the fullest sense of the word, dendritic animals--
the free children of the primeval forest. But if the toes of the parrot
are but ill adapted for walking, they render him valuable services in
grasping his food. They even form a kind of hand, with which he conveys
the morsel to his beak. This easily cracks the hardest nutshell, after
which the broad and fleshy tongue adroitly extracts the kernel.
In his free state the parrot lives only upon nuts and seeds; when
captive, however, he becomes omnivorous, like man his master, eats
bread and meat, sugar and pastry, and is very fond of wine, which has a
most exhilarating effect on his spirits.
Like most monkeys, the parrots are extremely social. At break of day
they generally rise in large bands, and with loud screams fly away to
seek their breakfast. After having feasted together, they retire to the
shady parts of the forest as soon as the heat begins to be oppressive,
and a few hours before the setting of the sun reappear in large troops.
If the monkeys are distinguished by a strong affection for their young,
the parrots may be cited as models of connubial love, for when once
a pair has been united, its attachment remains unaltered unto death.
Far more than the turtle-dove, the little passerine parrot of Brazil,
and the love-parrot of Guinea, deserved to be celebrated by poets as
patterns of conjugal affection. Never seen but in each other’s company,
each delights to imitate the actions of the other; and when one dies,
the other soon follows its partner. A gentleman who had lost one of a
pair of these inseparables, attempted to preserve the other by hanging
up a looking-glass in its cage. At first the joy of the poor bird was
boundless, as he fancied his mate restored to his caresses; but soon
perceiving the deception, he pined away and died.
Another point of resemblance between the parrots and monkeys is their
talent for mimicry; but while the latter, favoured by the similarity
of their organisation to that of man, strive to copy his gestures
and actions; the former endeavour to imitate his voice and to repeat
his words, an attempt facilitated by the extreme mobility of their
tongue and upper mandible, no less than by the peculiar construction
of their larynx or windpipe. These imitative instincts appear the more
remarkable when we consider that both monkeys and parrots have no
pursuits that necessarily bring them into closer connection with man.
They are comparatively useless to him, live at a distance from his
haunts, in the depths of the forests, and are so far from seeking his
company, that they retreat as fast as they can on seeing him approach.
How comes it, then, that they have been gifted with their wonderful
ability to imitate his language and his actions, and of what use is it
to them or to us?
The talent of speech has not been given to all parrots alike. The
beautiful American aras, for instance, are in this respect remarkably
stupid, while the purple lory of the East Indies, and the grey African
parrot (_Psittacus erithacus_), are remarkable for their linguistic
attainments. It is well known that they are often able to retain whole
songs and sentences, and to repeat them with astonishing exactness.
Buffon mentions a parrot who, having been taught to speak during the
passage by an old sailor, had so completely adopted his gruff voice
as to be mistaken for the weather-beaten tarpaulin himself. Although
the bird was afterwards presented to a young lady, and no more heard
the voice of its first instructor, it did not forget his lessons, and
nothing could be more ludicrous than to hear it suddenly pass from the
sweet tones of its fair mistress to the rough accents of its first
teacher.
The grey parrot not only imitates the voice of man, but has also
a strong desire to do so, which he manifests by his attention in
listening, and by the continuous efforts he makes to repeat the phrases
he has heard. He seems to impose upon himself a daily task, which even
occupies him during sleep, as he speaks in his dreams. His memory is
astonishing, so that a cardinal once gave a hundred gold crowns for
one of these birds that correctly repeated a long prayer; and M. de la
Borde told Buffon he had seen one that was fully able to perform the
duties of a ship’s chaplain.
All parrots are more or less susceptible of education, and,
particularly when caught young, grow very much attached to the master
that feeds them. Those that are sent to Europe are generally taken from
the nest, and have thus never experienced the sweets of freedom; but
they are also frequently caught full grown. The American Indians know
how to strike them with small arrows, whose points are blunted with
cotton, so as to stun without killing them; or else, under the trees
on which they perch, they light a fire of strong-smelling weeds, whose
vapours cause them to drop to the ground. These captives are frequently
extremely stubborn; but blowing the fumes of tobacco into their face
until they fall asleep is an infallible remedy to cure them of their
obstinacy, this operation being so little to their taste that it need
hardly ever be repeated twice.
Although pre-eminently tropical, like the colibris, several parrots
range far within the temperate zone, as they are found in the Southern
hemisphere at the Straits of Magellan and on the Macquarie Islands, and
in the Northern, in the neighbourhood of Cairo and in Kentucky, where
the Carolina parrot is often seen in great numbers during the summer.
The parrots are subdivided into numerous groups and species, chiefly
according to the various forms of their bills and tails. The
short-tailed parrots of the Old World mostly display bright or gaudy
colours, such as the Lories, which owe their name to the frequency with
which they repeat this word, while the American species are generally
green. The Indians have, however, found out an ingenious method to
adorn the plumage of the Amazonian parrot (_Psittacus Amazonicus_),
which is in great request, from its being easily tamed, and learning to
speak with facility. They take a young bird from its nest, pluck the
feathers from its back and shoulders, and then rub the naked parts with
the blood of a small species of frog. The feathers which grow again
after this operation are no longer green, but yellow, or of a bright
red colour. Many birds die in consequence of being plucked, and thus
these metamorphosed parrots are extremely rare, notwithstanding the
high prices which the savages obtain for them.
The Cockatoos are distinguished from the other parrots by a crest of
elegant feathers, which they can raise and depress at pleasure. They
inhabit the East Indies and Australia, and have generally a white or
roseate plumage. Their chief resorts are dense and humid forests, and
they frequently cause great devastations in the rice plantations, often
pouncing to the number of six or eight hundred upon a single field, and
destroying even more than they devour.
The great white cockatoo (_Cacatua Cristata_), who is able to raise
his beautiful yellow crest five inches high, as a cock does his
comb, is the species most frequently seen in Europe. This bird
is half-domesticated in several parts of India, as it builds its
nest under the roofs of houses, and this tameness results from its
intelligence, which seems superior to that of other parrots.
As Australia, the land of anomalies in natural history, possesses a
black swan, it also gives birth to a splendid black cockatoo (_Cacatua
Banksii_), the finest and rarest of the whole genus. Captain Grey gives
us an animated description of the chasing of this bird. ‘Perhaps the
finest sight that can be seen, in the whole circle of native sports, is
the killing cockatoos with the kiley or boomerang. A native perceives
a large flight of cockatoos in a forest which encircles a lagoon: the
expanse of water affords an open clear space above it, unencumbered
with trees, but which raise their gigantic forms all around, more
vigorous in their growth from the damp soil in which they flourish; and
in their leafy summits sit a boundless number of cockatoos, screaming,
and flying from tree to tree, as they make their arrangements for a
night’s sound sleep. The native throws aside his cloak, so that he may
not even have this slight covering to impede his motions, draws his
kiley from his belt, and with a noiseless, elastic step, approaches the
lagoon, creeping from tree to tree, from bush to bush, and disturbing
the birds as little as possible. Their sentinels, however, take the
alarm; the cockatoos farthest from the water fly to the trees near
its edge, and thus they keep concentrating their forces as the native
advances; they are aware that danger is at hand, but are ignorant
of its nature. At length the pursuer almost reaches the edge of the
water, and the scared cockatoos with wild cries spring into the air;
at the same instant the native raises his right hand high over his
shoulder, and bounding forwards with his utmost speed for a few paces
to give impetus to his blow, the kiley quits his hand as if it would
strike the water, but when it has almost touched the unruffled surface
of the lake, it spins upwards with inconceivable velocity, and with
the strangest contortions. In vain the terrified cockatoos strive to
avoid it; it sweeps wildly and uncertainly through the air (and so
eccentric are its motions, that it requires but a slight stretch of the
imagination to fancy it endowed with life), and with fell swoops is in
rapid pursuit of the devoted birds, some of whom are almost certain
to be brought screaming to the earth. But the wily savage has not yet
done with them; he avails himself of the extraordinary attachment which
these birds have for one another, and fastening a wounded one to a
tree, so that its cries may induce its companions to return, he watches
his opportunity, by throwing his kiley or spear, to add another bird or
two to the booty he has already obtained.’
The magnificent Macaws, or Aras, of South America are distinguished
by having their cheeks destitute of feathers, and their tail feathers
long. Their size and splendid plumage render them fit ornaments of
princely gardens, but their loud and piercing screams would prove a
great annoyance to the inmates of humbler dwellings. ‘Superior in
size and beauty to every parrot of South America,’ says Waterton, ‘the
ara (_Macrocercus Macao_) will force you to take your eyes from the
rest of animated nature, and gaze at him: his commanding strength; the
flaming scarlet of his body; the lovely variety of red, yellow, blue,
and green in his wings; the extraordinary length of his scarlet and
blue tail, seem all to form and demand for him the title of emperor of
all the parrots. He is scarce in Demerara, till you reach the confines
of the Macoushi country; there he is in vast abundance: he mostly feeds
on trees of the palm species. When the concourites have ripe fruit on
them, they are covered with this magnificent parrot: he is not shy or
wary; you may take your blow-pipe and quiver of poisoned arrows and
kill more than you are able to carry back to your hut. They are very
vociferous, and, like the common parrots, rise up in bodies towards
sunset, and fly two and two to their place of rest. It is a grand sight
in ornithology to see thousands of aras flying over your head, low
enough to let you have a full view of their flaming mantle.’
The Paroquets, or Parakeets, are smaller than the common parrots, and
have longer tails. There are numerous species, some distinguished by
a very long pointed tail, and collar-like mark round the neck, which
inhabit the Asiatic continent and islands; and others, natives of
Australia, which are distinguished by their colour being gorgeously
variegated and peculiarly mottled on the back, by their tail feathers
not being pointed, and by their being furnished with elongated tarsi
adapted for running on the ground.
To the former belongs the beautiful ring paroquet, which is supposed
to have been the first bird of the parrot kind known to the ancient
Greeks, having been brought from the island of Ceylon, after the Indian
expeditions of Alexander the Great; to the latter, the elegant green
parakeet, which in the hot seasons congregates about the pools in
almost incredible numbers. Though capable of a rapid and even flight,
and frequently at great altitudes, it is generally found running over
the ground, and treading its way among the grasses to feed on the
seeds. It can easily be domesticated, and a more elegant or beautiful
pet can scarely be conceived.
[Illustration: CARAVAN.]