HISTORY OF THE PARROTS. 83 



tirely of hoarse or shrill and piercing screams, with 

 little or no modulation, and frequently reiterated 

 during flight, as well as when otherwise engaged in 

 feeding, hathing, or preserving their, plumage. The 

 power of imitating the human voice, and learning to 

 articulate a variety of words and sentences, is not 

 possessed by all the species, but is principally con- 

 fined to the short and even-tailed parrots, in which 

 the tongue is large, broad, and fleshy at the tip. In 

 disposition, with the exception of one or two forms, 

 they are quiet and docile, and easily reconciled to 

 confinement, even when taken at an adult age. 

 Their flesh is said to be tender and well flavoured, 

 particularly that of the younger birds, and is fre- 

 quently used as food in the districts they inhabit. 

 The general characters of the family are bill convex, 

 large, deflected, thick, and strong. The tipper man- 

 dible, overhanging the under, hooked at the tip, and 

 furnished with a small cere at the base, the under 

 mandible thick, ascending, and forming when closed, 

 an angle with the upper. Tongue thick, fleshy, and 

 soft. Nostrils round, placed in the cere at the base 

 of the bill. Feet scansorial, the external toes longer 

 than the inner. In regard to their internal anatomy, 

 we may here observe that the bill is furnished with 

 additional and powerful muscles, and that the intes- 

 tinal canal is of great length and destitute of caeca. 



We shall now proceed to describe the examples 

 -selected to illustrate the different groups, making 



