THE BRAZILIAN GKl.EX MACAW. 



81 



the eggs, and displace the nest, appearing all the while unconcerned 

 notwithstanding both the cock and hen continued flying at and strik- 

 ing him with their bills all the while; and as soon as the Crow had 

 completed the robbery, he departed." 



The eggs of this bird are flesh-colored, and prettily marked at the 

 arger end with dark pink and a few black spots. 



OF THE PARROT TRIBE IN GENERAL. 



This most extensive tribe is remarkably distinct from all others. 

 The beak is hooked all the way from the base to the tip, and the 

 upper mandible, or division, is moveable. The nostrils are round; 

 and placed in the base of the bill, which in some species is furnished 

 with a cere. The tongue is broad and blunt ; the head is large, and 

 the crown flat. The legs are snort with two toes placea before and 

 two behind, for the puipuse ui ciimbmg. 



The Parrots are natives chiefly of tropical regions, where they live, 

 for the most part, on fruit and seeds ; though when kept in a cage, 

 they will occasionally eat both flesh and fish. They are gregarious, 

 and excessively noisy and clamorous; yet, though they associate in 

 vast multitudes, they live chiefly in pairs of one male and a female. 

 The place they hold among the birds seems to be exactly that which 

 the Apes and Monkeys occupy among the quadrupeds; for, like these, 

 they are very numerous, imitative, and mischievous. They breed in 

 the hollows of trees, like the Owls; and it is said that the male anc* 

 female sit alternately upon the eggs. In Europe, they have some 

 times been known to lay eggs ; but they seldom sit upon them ir 

 these cool climates. 



The toes of Parrots are sufficiently flexible to answer every purpos* 

 of hands, for holding their food, or carrying it to their mouths. Ir 

 climbing they always use their bill to assist the feet. They are, in 

 general, long-lived. 



In a domestic state they are exceedingly docile, and very imitative 

 of sounds; most of the species being able to counterfeit even the 

 human voice, and to articulate words with great distinctness; but 

 their natural voice is a loud, harsh and unpleasant scream. Alexan- 

 der the Great is supposed to have been the first who introduced 

 Parrots into Europe. 



THE BRAZILIAN GREEN MACAW. 



The length of this bird is about seventeen inches. Its bill is black , 

 and, on the cheeks, there is a bare white patch, marked with black 

 lines, in which the eyes are placed. The general color of the plu- 

 mage is green. The forehead is of a chesnut purple ; and the crown 

 is blue, which color blends itself with the green as it passes backward. 

 On the lower part of the thighs the feathers are red ; and the winga 

 are, in different parts, crimson, blue and black. The tail is green 



