Cassell's book of birds; vol. 1

by Alfred Edmund Brehm

The Garuba of Brazil (Conurus luteus) is a splendid bird, of bright egg-yellow colour, only varied by the green and black upon the wings and tail. The head and wings are usually of a brighter colour than the rest of the body; the wings are externally green, tipped and bordered with black; the beak greyish horn yellow; the foot flesh-coloured, varied with grey; the narrow bare places round the eyes whitish; the eyes are dark orange. Its length is fourteen and a half inches, six inches of which belong to the tail. The length of the wings is about the same. The north of Brazil, particularly the country near the Amazon, is the principal habitat of the Garuba, but nowhere is it found in great numbers.

THE TIRIBA.

The Tiriba (Conurus leucotis), a bird only nine inches long, four inches of which must be reckoned for the tail, is certainly the most elegant and charming of all parrakeets. The crown is brown, and shines with a metallic bluish green lustre; the rim round the forehead, the cheek-stripes, the cheeks, and the throat, are cherry colour. The part near the ear is white; the neck, rump, and wings dark green; the point of the tail and the middle of the belly, as well as the wings near the shoulder, are red; the breast is olive green; and the feathers on the upper part of the neck are indicated by a black-edged stripe, prettily marked. The wings are externally bluish green, and black within. The tail is green, the upper part touched with cherry colour, and the lower part with blood red; the horn-grey beak terminates in a white point. The feet are dark ash grey, and the eye-rings orange; the narrow bare place around the eyes is blackish. The female is somewhat smaller than the male, from whom she differs but little in colour. In the young birds the tints are paler, and the feathers only slightly marked.

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.

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.