Hello from the Black Swamp,

I have followed the big debate over the identity of the stone bird with some amusement, so I thought I'd bring my wife in to take a look at the picture without the "aid" of the label under the photo.  Her immediate impression was "It looks like a parrot or parakeet to me."  I concur.  To us the posture of the bird suggests a Carolina Parakeet in the act of "speaking."  I have always thought that parakeets have a somewhat amused look due to the way their bills are shaped, so I imagine that this stone bird is as equally amused as I am over the discussion about its identity.  

In addition, one of the images of the Carolina Parakeet from Audubon's Birds of America shows what appears to be an "ear patch," the outline of which would correspond to the curved line on the stone carving.

So that's our "two cents" for what it's worth, although the two cents is probably worth far less than when the expression was coined.  

Bird long and prosper,
Doug & Micki Dunakin
Antwerp, O.

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