90 A BOOK OF BIRDS 



the hooked tip, on its under surface, is curiously and symmetrically 

 grooved by a series of very fine ridges, and these ridges form what 

 is known as the " file." 



The beautiful " bloom " which covers the feathers of some Parrots 

 and the beak and white face of the African Grey Parrot is due to a 

 kind of powder formed by the breaking up of what are known as 

 powder-down feathers. 



All Parrots breed in holes, and make no nest, except the Quaker 

 Parrot of South America, which builds a large nursery of fine twigs. 



Though we may regard the Australian region and the Malay 

 countries as the headquarters of the Parrots, these birds enjoy a 

 very wide distribution, being found in India and Africa as well as 

 in America. Though no Parrot is now found in a wild state in 

 Europe, this was not always so, as is proved by fossil remains. 



Young Parrots are at first covered with a coat of thick down, and 

 remain for a long while helpless in the nest. 



The Grey, or African Parrot (Plate XVIII. fig. 2), may be 

 taken to represent the typical Parrot. This bird, so familiar as a 

 cage-bird, ranges across Equatorial Africa, and has acquired the 

 chief place among Parrots as a linguist. 



The Carolina Conure (Plate XVIII. fig. i) is a North American 

 species, which, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, used to 

 range in summer as high as the shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario ; 

 to-day it is almost, if not quite, extinct, having been ruthlessly 

 persecuted to supply " ornaments " for women's hats ! 



The gaudy Macaws represent the largest of the Parrot tribe, and 

 are natives of South America. 



The best-known species are, perhaps, the Blue and Yellow 

 Macaw (Plate XVIII. fig. 3), ranging from Guiana in the east to 

 Columbia in the west, and the Red and Blue Macaw (Plate XVIII. 

 fig. 4), a huge bird inhabiting Central and South America as far as 

 Bolivia. It is, like the former species, a common bird in captivity, 

 and is easily tamed. 



Very little is known about the habits of Macaws in a wild state, 

 but they are said to possess great powers of flight, rising high in the 

 air and travelling long distances in search of food, which consists of 

 various kinds of fruits. The sexes are alike in colouring. 



