DESTROYED liniSIII RY A MISCHIEVOUS HABIT
The Paroquet
— By —
Drawing of Ihc Carolina Paroquet by Mark Catcsby, from his "Natural History
of Carolina” published in London in 1771.
WILLIAM S. POWELL
North Carolina lost an interesting
if destructive "citizen” and namesake
about forty-five years ago when the
last Carolina Paroquet died. These
very colorful but marauding birds first
were reported along our coast in 1586
when Thomas Hariot listed them
among the strange and exotic living
things which he discovered there. The
last of the Carolina Paroquets appar¬
ently died before World War I. At
least it was then that North Carolin¬
ians were writing to the state museum
asking what had become of the "green
parrot" that had been common in
their fields before the Civil War.
The Carolina Paroquet was slightly
larger than the blue jay. but with a
greater wingspread. Its back was green,
its head and upper neck yellow, be¬
coming orange or orange-red on the
forehead, lores, and cheeks. The un¬
der parts were light yellowish-green
and its tail was quite long and tapered.
For some 300 years this bird of the
parrot family flourished abundantly in
North Carolina and was also found
elsewhere in the eastern United States
including the Mississippi Valley. In the
summer he sometimes ranged as far
as the Ohio and Potomac rivers and
casually even farther. Although oc¬
casional reports crop up even today
that a Carolina Paroquet has been
sighted in a desolate part of South
Carolina or in a Florida swamp, none
of these has ever been verified and it
is generally conceded that the bird is
now extinct.
Among the earliest of our writers to
describe this bird was John Lawson,
colonial surveyor-general. His history
of Carolina, published in London in
1709, reported that the "Parrakectos
arc of a green Colour, and Orangc-
Colour'd half way their Head. Of these
there is none found to the Northward
of this Province. They visit us first,
when Mulberries are ripe, which Fruit
they love extremely. They peck the
Apples, to eat the Kernels, so that
the Fruit rots and perishes. They are
THE STATE. AUGUST 28. 1954
mischievous to Orchards. They arc
often taken alive, and will become fa¬
miliar and tame in two days. They have
their Nests in hollow Trees, in low.
Swampy Ground. They devour the
Birch-Buds in April, and lie hidden
when the Weather is frosty and hard."
Lawson must have been a keen stu¬
dent of nature because he noticed sev¬
eral unusual characteristics of the bird
which continued to fascinate and baf¬
fle ornithologists as long as Paroquets
remained to be observed.
Virginia's William Byrd, who had no
love for North Carolinians, gave an
unusual twist to his observations of the
Carolina Paroquet. "Very few in this
Country have the Industry to plant
Orchards, which in a Dearth of Rum,
might supply them with much better
Liquor," he wrote in 1728 when he
was in North Carolina. "The Truth is,
there is one inconvenience that easily
discourages lazy People from making
this improvement: very often, in Au¬
tumn. when the Apples begin to ripen,
they are visited with Numerous Flights
of paraqueets. that bite all the Fruit to
Pieces in a moment, for the sake of
the Kernels. The Havock they make is
Sometimes so great, that whole Or¬
chards are laid waste in Spite of all the
Noises that can be made or Mawkins
that can be dresst up, to fright 'em
away. These Ravenous Birds visit
North Carolina only during the warm
Season, and so soon as the Cold begins
to come on. retire back towards the
sun. They rarely Venture so far North
as Virginia except in a very hot Sum¬
mer. when they visit the most Southern
parts of it. They arc very Beautiful:
but like some other pretty Creatures,
arc apt to be loud and mischievous."
Byrd concluded, no doubt with a sly
wink and a twinkle in his eyes.
Shortly after the Revolution Wil¬
liam Bartram, the naturalist, recorded
some interesting findings concerning
the Carolina Paroquet. "I was assured
in Carolina." he said, “that these birds,
for a month or two in the coldest
winter weather, house themselves in
hollow Cypress trees, clinging fast to
each other like bees in a hive, where
they continue in a torpid state until the
warmth of the returning spring reani¬
mates them, when they issue forth
from their late dark, cold winter clois¬
ters. But I lived several years in North
Carolina and never was witness to an
instance of it. yet I do not at all doubt
is
