CHAPTER VIII. 



THE PARROTS.! 



THE second tribe of the perching birds is the 

 Scansores 

 or Climb- 

 ers, which 

 comp rise 

 the Parrots, 

 Woodpeck- 

 e r s, and 

 Cue koos. 

 In all these 

 the outer 

 toe of each 

 foot is turn- 

 ed back, so 

 that two 

 toes point 

 fo r w a r d s 

 and two 

 backwards . 

 This a r - 

 ran gem e n t 

 gives the 

 foot a pecu- 

 liarly firm grasp, and leads to a difference in gait 

 which every one has noticed who ever kept a Parrot. 

 The Parrot does not sit upright and hop from perch 

 to perch, as a canary docs ; it clambers about the 



Prisoner. 



