C2 



THE REASON WHT : 



The time shall come when chanticleer shall wish 



His words unsaid, and hate his boasted bliss: 



The crested bird shall by experience know, 



Jove made him not his master-piece below." DRYDBW. 



decayed trees suffices for all the purposes of a nest, and precludes 

 the necessity of any artificial contrivance. 



814. The instinctive liking for such a bed does not desert it in a state of captivity. 

 Buffon mentions a pair of parrots in France, that for several years successively 

 produced and brought up their young. The place they selected for this 

 purpose was a cask partially filled with sawdust. 



815. Why are cockatoos so called? 



Because of the peculiarly dis- 

 tinct manner in which they 

 speak the word cockatoo^ though 

 generally they are less capable of 

 articulating sounds than the 

 true parrot. Cockatoos are dis- 

 tinguished from true parrots, and 

 all others, by a crest, or tuft of 

 feathers on the head, which they 

 can raise or depress at pleasure. 



816. Why is the toucan tribe so named? 



From the cry tu-cdno which it utters when upou 'aba watch, 

 or when apprehensive of danger. 



817. WJiy does the toucan toss back its head wJiiit 



This habit is rendered necessary by the length of Ut bill, and 

 the stiffness of the tongue, which prevent their eating as 

 other birds : they therefore, when the morsel has received its 

 first mastication, throw it into the gullet with a smart jurk. 



818. The toucan has a practice of returning his food, some time aftnr ho has 

 transmitted it to his crop ; and, after masticating it for a second time in the 'rill, 

 again swallowing it ; the whole operation bearing a strong resemblance to he 

 process in ruminating animals. 



