Parrots and Cuckoos. 63 



The cassowary is a native of the East Indian archi- 

 pelago, and the emu of the Australian continent. 

 The apteryx of New Zealand is the most remarkable 

 of these birds, as it has perfectly rudimentary wings 

 and a long slender bill, and there is a remarkable 

 disproportion between the size of the egg, which is 

 very large, and that of the bird. 



The second sub-class of birds is called Carinata 

 and includes all those birds which have a keel on the 

 breast -bone, a merrythought, usually functional 

 wings, whose feathers are in tracts (except in the 

 penguins) and have the barbs united along their 

 margins. This includes fourteen orders of birds, of 

 many of w r hich there are familiar illustrations easily 

 obtainable. 



34. Order 1, Parrots (Psittaci). The most in- 

 telligent and most highly organised of birds ; easily 

 known by their sharply FIG. 26. 



hooked beaks, both the 

 upper and lower part of 

 which are movable, and 

 by their brightly-coloured 

 feathers. Their feet are 

 prehensile, the outer and 

 inner toes being turned ~^ kull of ~ 



backwards, while the tWO Mj nostril ; e, quadrate bone ; v. lower 



middle toes are turned 



forwards, and thus they are enabled to grasp in climb- 

 ing. The tongue is soft, and the muscles which move 

 it are more distinct thai* those of most birds, and 

 hence the singular power of mimicking sounds pos- 

 sessed by many of them. They are natives of the 



