177 



PSITTACID.&. 



PSITTACID.E. 



478 



Thia large, hard, and solid bill, rounded throughout, and surrounded 

 at its base with a membrane wherein the nostrils are pierced, together 

 with the thick fleshy and rounded tongue, gives the Psittacidce, as 

 Cuvier observes, the greatest facility in imitating the human voice, a 

 facility to which their complicated lower larynx, with its three peculiar 

 muscles on each side, contributes. Their strong mandibles, formed 

 for shelling and cracking the hardest fruits, are worked by more 

 numerous muscles than those of other birds. 



The Parrot tribe are found in great numbers in warm climates, and 

 principally in the torrid zone. They are however abundant in the 

 southern hemisphere, and occur even in high latitudes, whilst hi the 

 north they do not appear to be represented beyond the tropics by any 

 species, except perhaps in India by Palceornis. Parrots occur in the 

 southern extremity of America, throughout Australia, iu Van 

 Diemen's Land, New Zealand, and even in Macquarrie Island, in 

 52 S. lat. They are monogamous, and make their nests in the 

 holes of trees, which they climb with their feet and bill. The short- 

 ness of their wings not permitting them to paas wide seas, the old 

 and new continents, and even some of the large islands, have their 

 particular species. Then- food consists of fruits of almost every kind, 

 and their natural voice is loud, harsh, and grating almost beyond 

 endurance. 



Brissou places the Parrots in his thirteenth order of birds, con- 

 sisting of those with two anterior and two posterior toes. This order 

 he divides into four sections : the first, with a straight bill, includes 

 the Wryneck, Woodpecker, and Jacamar as generic forms ; the second, 

 with the bill rather curved, the Barbets and Cuckoos; the third, with 

 the bill short and hooked, the Trogons, Crotophaga, and the Parrots ; 

 and the fourth, with the bill long, and of the size of the head, the 

 Toucans. 



Linnwus placed the genus Piittacus at the head of hU order Piece, 

 with the following definition : Bill hooked ; upper mandible move- 

 able, furnished with a cere. Nostrils situated in the base of the bill. 

 Tongue fleshy, obtuse, entire. Feet scansorial. 



He divided the genus, which is preceded by Laniia (the Shrikes), 

 and immediately followed by Ramphastos (the Toucans), into the 

 following sections : 



* Macrouri cauda cuneiform!. 



This division contained the Maccaws. 



** Macrouri minores. 



This division contained Psittacus Alexandri and the Parrakeets 

 generally ; but both in this and the former division we find Parrots 

 that can hardly be called ' long-tailed.' Thus in the first division we 

 have Pi'Macia nobil'u with the synonyms of ' Psittacus viridis alarum 

 costa supeme rubente of Aldrovandi (vol. L, t. 669), Sloane, Jam., 2, 

 p. 297,' ' PriUacus Amazoniciti, Briss., and P. media muynitudinis, 

 Will., t. 16 : ' whilst in the second we find the P. agilit, P. miner 

 rirulit of Edwards. 



*** Brachyuri cauda sequali. 



This contained the Cockatoos, Lories, and true Parrots. 



Cuvier places the Ptittacida; between the Toucans and the Touracos ; 

 they consist of the Area (Ant, Kuhl); Perruchei (Conuriu, Kuhl), 

 divided by Le Valliant into Perruchet-Arat, which have naked cheeks 

 (Piittaau Guyaneiuw, &c.) ; Perruches a Queue en Fleche (Palceornu) ; 

 and Perruches h Queue filargie vers le Bout (Plalycerctts) ; Cockatoos 

 (I'/y.tolophue) ; True Parrots; Lories; Short- Tailed Parrots (Psitta- 

 cuta, Kuhl); and Parroquets a Trompe, Le VailL (Microglotttu, 

 VieilL), of which last Cuvier thinks that the Perruches Ingambes 

 (Pezoporut, 111.) may be made a sub-genus. 



Mr. Swainson is of opinion that the Parrots constitute the sub- 

 typical division of the Scamorei wherein the powers of climbing are 

 less developed. " If," says Mr. Swainson, " any group in nature be 

 isolated, it is this. Possessing in themselves the strongest charac- 

 teristics, there is no bird yet discovered which presents any point of 

 connection to them : approximations indeed are certainly made towards 

 them by the tooth-billed Barbuts (Barbets, Poyonias) ; but there is 

 still a gap, which no genus yet discovered is calculated to fill up. On 

 considering the relative difference between the Barbuts and the 

 Parrots, we should say, theoretically, that of all the five groups among 

 the latter, one only remains to give the typical structure." As the 

 Parrots appear to Mr. Swainson to form a group precisely equivalent 

 to the true Woodpeckers, he arranges them under five genera : the 

 Maccaws, the Parrots, the Cockatoos, the Lories, and the Ground 

 Lories (Plalycercui, Vig.). In the synopsis at the end of the work 

 (' Classification of Birds ') we find the following arrangement : 

 Piittacida:. 



Bill very short : the upper mandible greatly curved over the lower, 

 which is considerably shorter. 



Sub-Family Macrocercirue. Maccaws. 



Upper mandible greatly hooked ; lower mandible much higher than 

 broad. Tail very long, cuneated. 



Genera : Macrocemu, Vieill. ; Conurus, Kuhl ; Leplorhync/tus, Sw. ; 

 Paktornu, Vig. 



Sub-Family Ptittacina. Parrots. 



Upper mandible very distinctly toothed ; lower mandiblo longer 

 than it is high. Tail short, even, or rounded. 



Genera: Ei-ythmstomia, Sw. ; Ckrysotis, S\v. (Amazonian Parrots); 

 Psittacua (Parrot of the Old World most typical of this sub-family) ; 

 Ayapornis, Selby ; Poicephahis, Sw. 



Sub-Family Plyclolopkince. Cockatoos. 



Head large, ornamented with a folding or procumbent crest. Bill 

 short, very broad; the culmen remarkably curved. Tail rounded, 

 lengthened, broad ; the feathers not narrowed. 



Genera : Plyctolophus, Vieill. (subtypical) ; Licmctis, Wagl. ; Micro- 

 ylossus, Geoff.; Centrourus, Sw. 



Sub-Family Loriana. Lories. 



Bill but slightly curved; the margin of the upper mandible siuuated; 

 the notch obsolete ; lower mandible slender, couic, much longer than 

 high ; the gonys (typically) straight. 



Genera : Brotogens, Vig. ; Piittaculus, Kuhl ; Trickoglossun, Vig. ; 

 Lorim, Brisson ; Pyrrhodes, Sw. 



Sub-Family Platycercince. Loriets. 



Tail long, very broad, considerably cuneated. Bill strong, thick, 

 toothed : the culmen very convex. Under mandible deep, but very 

 short : the gonys curved. Feet and toes slender. Tarsus longer than 

 the hallux. 



Genera : Vigorsia, Sw. ; Platycerms, Horsf. and Vig. ; Nanodes, Horsf. 

 and Vig.; Leptolophus, Sw. ; Pezoporus, 111. (Swainson.) 



The family is placed by Mr. Swainsou between the Rhampftastidie 

 and the Picidce. 



Mr. G. R. Gray ('List of the Genera of Birds') also arranges the 

 Psittacidce between the Rampkastida and the Picidcv. 



We proceed to lay before the reader some of the forms here men- 

 tioned. 



ifacrocercui. The Maccaws are all natives of America, and princi- 

 pally of its southern portion. The Carolina Arara (Psittacus Caro- 

 linensis, Linn.) has been recorded as occurring in the United States 

 as high as 42 N. lat., though, according to Audubon, few are now to 

 be found higher than Cincinnati ; but the true Maccaws are natives of 

 much warmer latitudes. Though the tongue is thick, fleshy, and soft, 

 their powers of imitation fall far short of those of the true Parrots and 

 Parrakeets, and the harsh tones with which, after much teaching, they 

 not very perfectly articulate a few words, contrast strongly with the 

 assumed musical voice and ready docility of the latter. They are 

 however capable of great attachment when domesticated. Their 

 natural notes are screams of the most discordant and piercing kind. 

 The hollows of trees are the places selected for their nests, and the 

 number of eggs laid amounts to two, which are said to undergo the 

 incubation of the male as well as the female. 





liluc and Yellow Maccaw (Ifacrocercui Antiauun) 



