CHAPTER XI 



PARROTS, CUCKOOS, AND PLANTAIN-EATERS 



PARROTS 



THE art of taming wild animals," writes Mr. Jenks in his " History of Politics," ' and 

 making them serve the purposes of man, is one of the greatest discoveries of the 

 world." He holds and there can be little question as to its reasonableness " that 

 the domestication of animals converted the savage pack into the patriarchal tribe," and that 

 the earliest domesticated animals were pets. How great a share, then, PARROTS may have 

 had in this civilisation and advancement no man can tell, for it is impossible to say how long 

 these beautiful birds may have been esteemed as pets, or how early they were introduced 

 to the notice of the civilised peoples of past generations. Certain it is, however, that for 

 more than 2,000 years they have been held in the highest esteem. 



Modern discovery has added enormously to the list of known parrots, so that to-day more 

 than 500 different species have been described, and these maybe divided into NESTORS, LORIES, 

 COCKATOOS, COCKATEELS, MACAWS, and KAKAPOS. 



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487 



