544 ZYGODACTYLI. 



readily taught to articulate the sounds of the human voice, either in 

 speech or music, with a surprising exactness, and exhibit also by no 

 inconsiderable share of memory. They are, in short, perfect apes, 

 and deserve to rank with the most intelligent of irrational ani- 

 mals* They fly with the swiftness of wild pigeons, and climb 

 by means of the bill and feet, which last, indeed, supply the 

 place of hands, and are often employed for the prehension of their 

 food. They feed on fruits and seeds, breaking the hardest pericarps, 

 and inflicting powerful bites. They often build and roost in the cav- 

 ities of decayed trees, and sometimes also nest in the bifurcation of 

 large limbs, or in the cavities of rocks, laying from 2 to 4 roundish, 

 white eggs twice a year. They are said to macerate the food for 

 their young, and in captivity are nearly omnivorous, but give a pre- 

 ference to nuts and kernels. — Note. We have already remarked 

 their affinity to the Loxias, one of the species being called indeed, by 

 some, German Parrots ; and the intermediate link seems decided in 

 the Psittirostra ! They have likewise a more remote affinity to the 

 AccipiTRES, from which, at the same time, their habits are wholly 

 estranged. The Finches, allied to the Parrots in physical structure, 

 have, also, like them, a remarkable degree of docility, and have been 

 taught to perform feats with all the address and sagacity of monkeys. t 

 The Viduas, in their elongated tails, seem almost to represent the 

 section of the Parrakeets. 



Subcrenus. — - Psittacus. 



With the upper mandible furnished internally with a transverse 

 process near the point. 



I 



* For further particulars concerning the docility of the Parrot, see the Introduc- 

 tion, p. 20, 21. 



t See the Introduction, p. 21. ■^': 



