1G8 THE SPEAKING PARROTS. 



sometimes slightly hollowed ; the sharp edges are not hollowed 

 out ; the tongue is thick and fleshy, with a spoon-like depression 

 near the front ; it has fibrous, movable papillae ; the nostrils 

 are round and open, situated in a narrow cere ; eyes dark-brown, 

 inclining to orange-red ; nearly always a featherless circle round 

 the eye ; feet powerful ; claws much bent ; the wings long and 

 pointed ; the tail short and rounded, consisting of feathers 

 equally graduated ; the plumage close, composed of somewhat 

 hard feathers on the neck, but on the throat and upper part of 

 the body they are long ; sometimes there is an irregular crest. 

 The colours are brilliant ; there is probably no outward dis- 

 tinction between the sexes ; the body is slim. Size, varying 

 from that of a sparrow to a jackdaw. 



They are widely diffused over the Moluccas and Polynesia. 

 Scarcely any inquiries have been made into their life in 

 freedom, but, so far as is known, it agrees with the descrip- 

 tions already given. The smallest species are said to subsist, at 

 least at times, entirely on the honey of flowers. 



Some of them belong to those ornamental birds which have 

 been known and imported from ancient times, and which are 

 numerously kept in their native countries in cages or on foot- 

 chains, and form an article of commerce which, in later times, 

 has greatly increased. The majority can with difficulty be 

 accustomed to seed as a diet. Some never take it, therefore 

 they are more difficult to keep in captivity than the Sharp- 

 tailed Lorikeets. Of course, the danger is greatest when they 

 are being inured to the change of food and of climate. When 

 they are acclimatised, they prove to be hardy, though they 

 cannot, as was remarked before, bear cold or draughts as well as 

 others of the tribe. We find a considerable number of speakers 

 among their ranks, and, in my opinion, if they are more 

 frequently imported, and their needs in captivity more observed, 

 they will all, or all the greater species, prove gifted with speech, 

 though, of course, only to a moderate extent. In proportion to 

 their advancement in taming and training their shrill and often 

 wearisome cry ceases. 





