THE PARROT. 



Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. 



Rose-ringed Parrukeets. 



Alexandrine Parrakeet. 



It is now very generally admitted that the Psittacidfe, or Parrots, form an independent family group, 

 embracing many genera. Prominent among the Psittacidse is the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, an inhabitant 

 of New Guinea. Its color is white, and the crest is of a sulphur yellow. This Cockatoo is easily tamed, 

 and is of a very affectionate disposition. When in captivity it has been known to live to the age of one 

 hundred and twenty years. The eggs are white. The length of the bird is about eighteen inches. There 

 are other varieties of the Cockatoo, as the Banksian, and Goliath. 



The Macaws are natives of South America. The Blue and Yellow Macaw inhabits Brazil, Guiana and 

 Surinam, living principally on the banks of rivers. 



' The Carolina Parrot is a native of the southern districts of the United States. Its plumage is very 

 beautiful, the general color being a bright, yellowish, silky green, with light blue reflections. 



The Alexandrine Parrakeet is found only in India and the neighboring islands. It is a beautiful bird ; 

 its general plumage is green, a vermillion collar adorns the neck; the throat and a band between the eyes 

 are black ; a mark of purple red ornaments the shoulders. 



The Psittacules, or Ground Parrots, form a group of beautiful little Parrakeets, the smallest of their race. 

 The two most prominent varieties are the Black-winged and the Phillipine, both of which are found in the 

 East Indies. 



The Rose-ringed Parrakeet is no less remarkable for its symmetrical form and graceful movements, than 

 for its docility and imitative powers, and is supposed to have been the first' bird of the Parrot kind known 

 to the ancient Greeks and Romans, having been brought from the island of Ceylon, after the Indian expe- 

 ditions of Alexander the Great. They afterwards obtained other species from Africa. The color of the 

 bird is green, and a rose-colored band round its neck gives it the name of the Rose-ringed Parrakeet. The 

 bill is red. 



The Parrot genus includes about one hundred and seventy known species. All the species are confined 

 to warm climates, but their range is wider than Buffon considered, when he limited them to within twenty- 

 three degrees on each side of the equator ; for they are known to extend as far south as the straits of 

 Magellan, and are found on the shores of Van Diemen's Land. Parrots live together in families, and 

 seldom w r ander to any considerable distance ; these societies admit with difficulty a stranger among them, 

 though they live in great harmony with each other. They are fond of scratching each other's heads and 

 necks ; and when they roost, nestle as closely as possible together, sometimes as many as thirty or forty 

 sleeping in the hollow of the same tree. 



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