•338 THE FEATHERED TRIBES. 



restriction within narrow limits, and their concentration in certain islands, while they 

 are not fonnd in others which closelj^ border upon the foDner. This is pecidiarly the 

 case with many of the island groujjs of Polynesia. 



The food of the parrots consists principally of the pulps of fruit, such as those of the 

 banana, the coffee-tree, the jJalm, and the lemon. They are especially fond of almonds ; 

 generally they attack the pulp only to get at the kernel ; this, when once seized, is fixed 

 on the imder wrinkled surfiice of the upper mandible ; they turn it repeatedly until it 

 is placed on the tongue in the proj^er direction for the introduction of the trenchant 

 edge of the lower mandible ; then the bird soon forcibly separates the A'alves of the 

 almond-shell, and getting the almond into its bill, soon divides it, so that all its 

 envelopes are rejected. The fragments are finallj' swallowed in succession. iSome of 

 this family are said to live on roots, and others to seek their aliment in herbs. 



"Wlien domesticated, the parrots, maccaws, parrakeets, and cockatoo.s, show the same 

 partiality for vegetable seeds, and are generally fed very well on hemp-seed, the skins 

 or husks of which they detach with astoni.shing skill. Some that receive bones to gnaw, 

 acquire a very determined taste for animal substances, and especially for the tendons, 

 ligaments, and other less succulent parts. From this kind of feeding, some parrots 

 contract the habit of plucking out their own feathers that they may suck the stems ; and 

 this becomes so urgent a want, that instances have been known of their stripping their 

 bodies absolutel^^ naked, not leaving a ATstige of down wherever the bill could reach. 

 They spared, however, the quills of the wings and tail, the plucking out of which would 

 have caused them too much pain. M. Desmarest states, that the body of one of these 

 birds, belonging to M. Latreillc, thus became as naked as a pullet plucked for roasting. 

 Yet this bird supported the rigour of two A'ery severe winters without the slightest 

 alteration of health and appetite. M. Vieillot observes, that this habit of deplumation 

 is produced, in many parrots, by an itching of the skin, and not in consequence of their 

 being accustomed to eat animal siibstanccs. 



The parrots drink little, but often, and do so raising up the head, but less stronglj' 

 than in other birds. They all use, with great dexterity, one of their feet to carry their 

 food to their bills, ^hile they stand perched on the other. They sojourn much on the 

 borders of streams and rivers, and in marshj' places. They are Ibnd of the water, and 

 seem to take the greatest delight in bathing themselves — an operation which thej' 

 perform several times a day when in a natural state. AVhen they have bathed, they 

 shake their plumage until the greater jwrtion of the water is expelled, and then expose 

 themselves to the sun until their feathers are completely dried. In captivity, and even 

 during the most rigorous seasons, they seek to bathe, and at all events plunge the head 

 repeatedlj- into water. 



With the exception of the time of incubation, tlic parrots live in flocks, more or less 

 numcrou.s ; go to .sleep at the sotting, and awake at the rising of the sun. In sleep, they 

 turn the head upon the back. Their sleep is light, and they arc not unfrcqucntlj' heard 

 to utter some cries during the night. In a state of domestication, after they go to rest 

 is said to be the most suitable time for repeating to them such words as they are intended 

 to learn, because they then experience no distraction. 



Their life is very long, and the mean duration of it, among the parrots properly so 

 called, is calculated at forty years. Instances have, however, been known of individuals 

 who lived in a state of domestication for ninety or a hu7idred years, or even more. Tlio 

 parrakeets live, generally, about five and twenty years. An effect of captivity, in some 

 species, i.s, according to M. Yaillant, to change the colour of their plumage; and to this 

 cause he attributes the frequent varielies observable among these birds. 



The birds of this genus arc monogamous. Tluy make their nests in the truiil<s()f 

 rotten trees, or in the cavities of rocks; and compose tluin, in the flr.sf instance, of the 



