PSITTACID.E J PARRAKEETS, LOVE-BIRDS. LORIES. 469 



feed on fruits, maize, &c. They are represented in the Old 

 "World by the ParraJceets ; of which one group, inhabiting Aus- 

 tralia, is formed to live on the ground. The Love- Birds are a 

 beautiful group, consisting of very diminutive species ; they are 

 found in both Continents, and are remarkable for having no fur- 

 cula. The Lories are an Oriental group, having square tails, and 

 dense soft plumage, the colours of which are extremely brilliant ; 

 their beaks are comparatively feeble. Some allied species are 

 remarkable for their extensible tongue, furnished with a pencil 

 of filaments at its extremity ; by which they are adapted to suck 

 up the nectar of flowers, in the manner of the suctorial birds 

 last described : these are termed Lorikeets. Each species of 

 this numerous family appears to have its own peculiar residence, 

 and a very limited distribution around it ; this may be partly 

 accounted for by the shortness of the wings, and the want of 

 powers of flight, which prevent their migrations; but it is 

 partly due also, to the adaptation of each to a peculiar set of 

 conditions, which would not be met with elsewhere. Notwith- 

 standing the differences in their plumage, the various members 

 of this family appear to be formed, as it were, upon one model ; 

 and this model differs so widely from that of all other Birds, 

 that many Naturalists have proposed to class the Parrots as 

 an order distinct in itself. They are remarkable for their edu- 

 cdbility, and for the degree of intelligence they display ; which 

 appears to be superior to that of most, if not all, other Birds. 

 They have, too, more prehensile power than the other feathered 

 tribes, and make more use of it ; being often seen, when in con- 

 finement, to grasp their perch with one foot, and to convey 

 their food to the mouth with the other. Further, although 

 their voice is naturally harsh and unmusical, they can be taught 

 to imitate the sound of the human voice in speaking and singing ; 

 in which great assistance is probably given by their thick 

 fleshy tongue, as well as by the complicated structure of their 

 inferior larynx. In their superior prehensile powers, their intel- 

 ligence, and their arboreal habits, the Parrot tribe seems to hold 

 in the class of Birds a situation analogous to that of the Qua- 

 drumana among Mammalia. 



