152 GENUS CALYPTORYNCHUS. 



ed, and describing in its profile nearly a semicircle, 

 the tip not much elongated, and bending inwards ; 

 under mandible massive, dilated, wider than the 

 upper, toothed, and deeply emarginate in front, 

 nearly concealed by the feathers of the cheeks ; or- 

 bits and lores naked ; tongue simple, smooth ; nos- 

 trils large, round, lateral, placed behind the corneous 

 base of the bill ; wings ample, rounded, the second, 

 third, fourth, and fifth quills the longest, and nearly 

 equal, their exterior webs emarginate towards the 

 middle ; tail of mean length, broad, slightly round- 

 ed ; feet and toes rather weak, the tarsi short. The 

 width and peculiar form of the lower mandible, and 

 the shortness of the whole bill, as compared with its 

 depth at the base, as well as its semilunar profile, are 

 characters alone of sufficient importance to separate 

 the members of this group from the true Cockatoos. 

 in addition, the crest which exists is of a different 

 form ; the tail is more elongated and rounded, and 

 the ground or prevailing colour of the species, instead 

 of being light, is always dark, varying from black to 

 blackish-grey and blackish-green. So far as our li- 

 mited acquaintance with their habits extends, they 

 appear to be birds of a wilder and fiercer disposition 

 than the generality of the Psittacidae, and less gre- 

 garious than the conterminous genera. They are 

 said to feed greatly upon bulbous roots, as well as 

 on fruits and seeds ; and the denuded tip of the ra- 

 chis of the tail-feathers indicates something peculiar, 

 and with which we are yet unacquainted, in their 



