CHAPTER XXVIII. 

 PSITTACI. 



Parrot-like Birds Altricial. 



This is the order of the parrots, the lories, the ma- 

 caws, and the cockatoos, and is one of the most individ- 

 ualized of the groups ; that is, its members are easily recog- 

 nizable. They are social birds, nesting and feeding in 

 companies. The Carolina paroquet was in earlier times 

 a resident of the Gulf States and spread northward into 

 the states of the lower Mississippi, and has been found 

 as far north as Kansas, but is now nearly exterminated 

 in the northern part of its old range. We are informed 

 from old records that it extended as far north as the 

 Ohio river in 1861. Farther back, in 1780, Barton 

 recorded the fact of having seen a flock near Albany, New 

 York. 



The birds of the order have highly colored plumage, 

 and most of the representatives show strongly contrasting 

 colors. (Fig. in.) The toes are zygodactyle by the turning 

 backward of the fourth toe. The bill is stout, short, and 

 more or less hooked ; and at its base a growth of skin covers 

 the horn of the beak, making what is called the cere. The 

 tongue is thick, fleshy, and somewhat prehensile, objects 

 being grasped between it and the upper mandible. 

 The upper mandible is more freely movable than in other 

 birds, being jointed to the front bones of the head in- 

 stead of being an extension of them. The bill is freely 

 used in climbing. The lower larynx is peculiarly con- 



316 



