390 



PARROT. 



of very powerful muscles, and has a sort of lateral 

 grinding motion, as well as a shutting and opening 

 one : in general, the lower mandible has a sort of 

 tooth-like points ; the nostrils are pierced in the cere, 

 and they are open and round ; the feet are in general 

 short, with the tarsi very stout, but shorter in the 

 generality of the number than the external front toes ; 

 the toes are four in number, two to the front and two 

 to the rear, the former united by a small membrane 

 at the base; the latter entirely free, and the outer 

 toe of each pair longer than the inner one ; the wings 

 are generally of mean length, but very strong, and 

 capable of rapid flight ; the first three quills are nearly 

 equal in length, arid, like all the plumage of the birds, 

 they have remarkably firm webs : generally speaking, 

 also, the feathers on the upper part of the body are 

 large and firm, and appear like a covering of scales, 

 often of the finest gloss and the richest colours. 



Among birds so numerous, differing so much in 

 their size and forms, and extending fairly round the 

 globe in its equatorial parts, it is difficult to give a 

 general description of their manners. Most species 

 of them are very abundant ; and in those forests 

 which form their principal habitats, the quantity of 

 vegetable matter which they consume and also de- 

 stroy, would appear perfectly incredible to any one 

 accustomed to the habits of birds of temperate coun- 

 tries only. In these forests each one tumbles to the 

 ground many times the quantity of food which it 

 really eats. A few build their nests in the tops of 

 the loftiest trees, where they work the branches and 

 twigs together with a good deal of art ; but the greater 

 part place them in the holes of trees. The eggs vary 

 from two to four, and are of a white colour in most of 

 the species. The female sits very constantly ; but at 

 those times when feeding or exercise requires her to 

 go out, the male is always at hand to take her place. 

 The young are understood to eat buds and little soft 

 fruits which are brought them by the parents. It is 

 generally understood that the leaves of common 

 parsley, which most animals can eat with impunity, are 

 a mortal poison to parrots. 



In their native forests they are exceedingly noisy 

 birds, but it does not appear that any of them have 

 much tendency to attack any other bird or animal. 

 The groups nearest to which they are placed in the 

 systems eat eggs and insects ; but it does not appear 

 that the parrots have this tendency, nor are they 

 quarrelsome with each other. There is little doubt 

 that the manners of parrots in their native woods 

 differ greatly from those which they display when 

 kept in a state of captivity by man. Numerous as 

 they are, they belong to wild nature, and their use to 

 man is limited. It is true that the young birds 

 generally, and also the old ones of some of the 

 species, are eaten by the human inhabitants of some 

 of their localities. But there are few human inha- 

 bitants in such places ; and it is no very easy matter 

 to come at the parrots unless when they flock out 

 upon plantations near the woods ; and upon such oc- 

 casions their carcasses do not repay the damage they 

 commit. 



From the scanty information which we have re- 

 specting them, the classification of these birds is in a 

 very imperfect state; and though various ornitholo- 

 gists have formed elaborate systems of them, those 

 systems are hardly intelligible to ordinary readers, 

 and not of much interest or use to anybody. As 

 is the case upon subjects where the truth cannot be 



obtained, every one has proposed a method of his 

 own, and with very few exceptions, it may be said, 

 that one of them is just as good as another. 



It is not possible to form even a geographical ar- 

 rangement of them which can be applied to any useful 

 purpose ; for we find great dissimilarity in the more 

 essential points between species which inhabit the 

 same locality, and great likenesses between those 

 which live at each others antipodes. 



In all their varieties, whether of genus or species, 

 parrots are, strictly speaking, day birds, going to their 

 repose at sunset, and being up with the sun again in 

 the morning. As already hinted, the whole may 

 be said to live upon vegetable food. In the greater 

 number this food is the kernels of fruits, of which the 

 birds appear to care little for the pulpy pericarp, or 

 portion which we term fruit, how highly soever we 

 may esteem it for its flavour. Fruits which have large 

 seeds inclosed in a hard shell or nut within the peri- 

 carp, are the favourites with them. They find these 

 upon many of the palms, upon the wild almonds, and 

 upon various other trees ; and the dexterity which 

 they show in opening the valves of even the hardest 

 of these shells is truly wonderful. It is not done by 

 mere random force, but by an application of the bill 

 as perfect as if it were guided by human science, or 

 even more so. When the shell and kernel are di- 

 vested of whatever external covering they may natu- 

 rally have, the whole is brought against the hook of 

 the upper mandible on the one part, and the end of 

 the tongue on the other, into the very best position 

 for enabling the application of the lower mandible to 

 separate the valves. This is done, of course, by the 

 simple touch of the tongue in the bird, for the horny 

 part of the bill has no sensibility, and it is im- 

 possible that any use can be made of the eye 

 or any other organ of sense. Notwithstanding this, 

 it would be impossible for man, using both his eyes 

 and his hands, to place the substance to greater ad- 

 vantage for the action of the instrument ; and thus 

 the parrot is enabled to break the shell and get at the 

 kernel, with the very minimum of labour. When the 

 shell is broken, the tongue still keeps the kernel against 

 the hook of the upper mandible, and thus allows the 

 lower one to be opened, so that the fragments of the 

 shell may be rejected. 



For the accomplishment of the double purpose of 

 this curious bill, it is not only provided, as formerly 

 stated, with very strong muscles, but there is a pro- 

 vision made for preventing that concussion which 

 arises from its powerful and frequent action, from 

 being communicated to the brain. This is obtained 

 by the upper mandible being articulated with the 

 bones of the cranium, and not united. In conse- 

 quence of this, the upper mandible is susceptible of 

 some motion on its base ; and this motion not only 

 prevents the concussion from being propagated to the 

 brain, but enables this organ to exert a much more 

 powerful effect than it would have, if the upper man- 

 dible were so firmly united at its base as to be inca- 

 pable of motion. As the bill is actually constructed, 

 the upper mandible partially descends to meet the 

 lower one, and thus no power whatever is lost, and so 

 the bird is enabled to take even its hard food with 

 ease compared with what other birds have to under- 

 so. This is a very general provision in Nature's 

 mechanical structures, for we meet with it in the feet of 

 swift-leaping animals, in wings, and, in short, in every 

 organ of powerful motion. If the organ is to be ex- 



