_Conurus flaviventer._
_Psittacus æruginosus_, _var._ +Lath.+ Syn.
_Aratinga flaviventer_, +Spix+. Av. Br. t. 18. f. 1.
[75] Length, measured over the head, 11³⁄₄ inches, expanse 16³⁄₄,
flexure 5³⁄₄, tail 5, rictus ³⁄₄, tarsus ⁵⁄₁₀, middle toe 1¹⁄₁₀.
Irides pale orange; cere and cheeks, pale buff.
The large earthy nests accumulated by the duck-ants (_Termites_,)
around the trunk or branches of trees, frequently afford the Parroquet
a fit situation for her own domestic economy. Though easily cut by her
strong beak, the thin arches and galleries of these insects are of
sufficiently firm consistence to constitute a secure and strong abode.
In the cavity formed by her own industry she lays four or five eggs,
upon the chips and dust.
But the precaution of the poor bird in selecting a locality, and her
perseverance in burrowing into so solid a structure, are not sufficient
to ensure her safety or that of her young. The aperture by which she
herself enters and departs, affords also a ready entrance to a subtle
and voracious enemy, the Yellow Boa. A young friend of mine once
observing a Parroquet enter into a hole in a large duck-ants’ nest,
situated on a bastard-cedar, mounted to take her eggs or young. Arrived
at the place, he cautiously inserted his hand, which presently came
into contact with something smooth and soft. He guessed it might be the
callow young, but hesitating to trust it, he descended, and proceeded
to cut a stick, keeping his eye on the orifice, from which the old bird
had not yet flown. Having again mounted, he thrust in the stick and
forced off the whole upper part of the structure, disclosing to his
utter discomfiture and terror, an enormous Yellow Snake, about whose
jaws the feathers of the swallowed Parroquet were still adhering, while
more of her plumage scattered in the nest revealed her unhappy fate.
The serpent instantly darted down the tree, and the astonished youth,
certainly not _less_ terrified, also descended with precipitation, and
ran as if for life from the scene.
The food of this species consists of various fruits and seeds. The
fiddle-wood, burn-wood, fig, and pride of China, afford it plentiful
and agreeable nutriment. It cuts into the plantains, both when green
and ripe; and its fondness for the sweet and spicy berries of the
pimento renders it the abhorrence of the planter. I have seen it on
the top of a guava-tree holding something in its foot, which it cut to
pieces with its beak and fed upon; probably the young fruit. When the
prickly-yellow is in seed, the Parroquets come in flocks to eat of it;
when they lose their wonted wariness. I have known them to resort to
a large tree, overhanging the public road, day after day; the passing
by of persons beneath causing little observation; generally, however,
they would utter a screech or two, and then go on feeding. I have shot
several individuals from this tree in succession, yet in a few minutes
the flock would be there again.
Often when mortally wounded by a shot, the grasp of the climbing feet,
by which the bird was hanging from the twigs, becomes convulsively
tightened, and the falling body is seen suspended head downward; for
some minutes, often longer, it thus remains, the wings now and then
giving an ineffectual flutter, till at last one foot relaxes its hold,
and then the other, and the bird falls heavily to the ground. They are
often sought for the table, and I can speak from personal knowledge to
their juiciness and flavour, especially in the pimento season.
The flight of these birds is swift and rushing; in mid air they have
a habit of suddenly deviating from the straight line of their course,
making a sharp doubling, and then pursuing the same direction as
before. They go in flocks, usually above the trees, and utter harsh
screams as they fly. The sexes are precisely alike in plumage.