"Zech became more and more excited as they penetrated the thick woods and went past the spot where Tobias shot the hog. They soon entered bottom land, and here there were thick canebrakes and huckleberry bushes and rotted logs and clumps of palmetto and Spanish bayonet.
"They turned south and followed the east bank of the shallow creek. Its water was crystal clear and green moss on the bottom waved gently with the slow-moving current. Bass could be seen darting in and out of the foliage, chasing small perch and minnows.
"They suddenly heard a series of harsh, loud screams come from somewhere above them. It sounded like quarrelsome old men fussing at each other. Tobias put his hand on Zech's shoulder and cautioned him to be very quiet.
"A flock of ten birds lit in an oak tree just ahead of them. Zech's eyes widened in wonderment as he stared at them. They were a foot long and six inches tall, with long pointed tails and yellow heads that became rich orange around their bills.
"Zech whispered, 'What are they Papa? I've never seen birds like that.' He was afraid they would fly away too soon, and he felt that he could stare at them forever.
"'They're Carolina Parakeets. I come on them down here ever once in a while, but not often. They stay mostly along bottom land. They used to be in swamps in Georgia in the summer, but they're gone now. Folks killed 'em for the meat and the tail feathers. The cold kills them too, and that's why they'd always fly south in the winter. If it ever comes a hard enough freeze down here and stays that way long enough, it will probably wipe them out if they ain't all been shot and et by then.'
"'I wouldn't kill them,' Zech said, his eyes still wide. 'They're too purty to kill. I'd rather shoot a ugly ole crow and let the parakeets alone just to look at.'
"'Some folks don't care,' Tobias said. 'When I was your age I followed some men on a hunt, and they come on some of these birds in a swamp. They shot one, and when it fell to the ground, the others flew off into the trees. In a few seconds one of them came back to the dead one, and then they all started coming back, one by one. They are the only birds I have known to do this. They kept coming back to the dead till the men just sat there and killed every one of 'em. Maybe they were coming back to grieve over the dead. I don't rightly know. But when them men found out that if you kill one Carolina, then the others will keep coming back to the dead, they hunted them and shot every one in the county. Wiped them out clean. Let's let the birds be and move on now and see can we find us a deer.'
"As they started forward, the birds flew away, again screaming loudly. Zech wondered if he would see them again. He stared after them until the sound could no longer be heard.
"Tobias said, 'We best cross the creek here. The meadow is just over yonder.'
"They waded through the cool water and skirted the south end of a canebrake..." (pp 28-29, A Land Remembered).
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