PARROTS. 



363 



The gray parrots, forming the family PSITTACID^E, are few in number, and are con- 

 fined to Africa and Madagascar. They have a broad cere covering the whole base 

 of the upper bill; there is a naked space around the eye, the upper mandible is 

 rounded and smooth, and its cutting edges are without teeth. The wings are rather 

 long, and the tail, about as long as the wings, is straight or weakly rounded. Their 

 plumage is gray or blackish, and they are without the bright feathers so characteristic 

 of most members of the order, but to compensate they are among the best talkers of 



\ N.-st \;'- 



Fir.. 168. Ps ittacus eritliacus, jako, gray-parrot. 



the group. They fly poorly, but walk about on the ground, or climb with great agility 

 among the branches of the trees. They are very social and live in vast flocks, feeding 

 on the fruits and especially on the grains of the region, sometimes committing serious 

 depredations on the fields of the colonists. 



Two genera are recognized, Coracopsis and Ps ittacus. The former embraces the 

 Vaza-parrots of Madagascar, species which show many points of resemblance to the 

 extinct Mascarine parrot mentioned on a proceeding page. Of the two species of 



