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 Carinat<z 

 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 which 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 



backwards, While the tWO n nos tril ; e, quadrate bone ; v. lower 



middle toes are turned jaw ' m ' orbit 



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

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

 it are more distinct than those of most birds, and 

 hence the singular power of mimicking sounds pos- 

 sessed by many of them. They are natives of the 



