PARR A Q UETS — O WLS— BIRDS- OF-PRE Y 193 



ground, or rocky clefts, or, oftener, holes in trees, which they generally cut out for 

 themselves with their beaks. They all use their feet and beaks simultaneously in 

 climbing, or eating, the beak helping to grasp the branches and the feet holding 

 the food. These habits are not equally well developed in all cases, for the short- 

 tailed kinds make the most extensive use of their beaks and claws, and are most 

 active climbers, but walk and fly awkwardly, while the long-tailed species make 

 less use of their beaks, and do not climb so well, but run and fly better. Notwith- 

 standing the shape of the beak, only one member of the group, and that but 

 recently, has developed into a bird-of-prey. All the rest feed on seeds or fruit, as 

 well as buds, flowers, and insects, some being very fond of nectar and the sap of 

 trees. Parrots are represented by a host of species, ranging over the warmer 

 countries of all the continents except Europe, and extending from 40° N. latitude to 

 55° S. latitude, though only a few approach the extreme of these limits, their chief 

 area being within the tropics. Most of the Asiatic species belong to the true 

 parraquets, a group comprising a great variety of species, distinguished by the 

 upper half of the beak being generally coloured red (although occasionally black) 

 and the narrowness of the naked cere. They are spread over an area extending 

 from the West African coast to the Solomon Islands. In south-eastern Asia they 

 are represented by the genus Palceomis, most of the five-and-twenty members of 

 which are green in plumage. The common P. torquatus ranges from Baluchistan, 

 India, and Ceylon through Burma to Cochin China, but many of the species have 

 a very restricted distribution. The pretty little hanging-parrots are also repre- 

 sented in southern Asia, where they range from India through the Malay 

 Peninsula to the Philippines. These parrots, which feed principally on soft fruits 

 and honey, climb about briskly in the branches and move quickly on the ground. 

 Their note is pleasing ; but their chief peculiarity is the habit of hanging head- 

 downwards like bats, in which attitude they not only rest and sleep, but also 

 frequently feed. One of the most beautiful species native to the Malay Peninsula 

 is the small blue-crowned Loriculus galgulus, a member of a genus with no less 

 than f our-and-twenty species, ranging from India to New Guinea and the Bismarck 

 Archipelago. 



Among the owls, special mention may be made of the grass-owl 

 (Strix Candida), a relative of the barn-owl, which ranges from India 

 to Fiji and north Australia, the barn-owl itself being represented in India and 

 the Malay countries by the closely allied S. javanica. The grass-owl lives among 

 grass and breeds in the ground. Another owl, the Malay masked owl (Photodilus 

 badius), ranges from the eastern Himalaya through the Malay Peninsula to Java 

 and Borneo. The fish-owls are also represented within the area, the best known 

 species being perhaps the Indian fish-owl (Cetupa ceylonensis), which ranges from 

 Palestine through India, including Ceylon, into China. 



Passing on to the birds-of-prey, we find the tiny falconets, whose 

 Birds-of-Prey. to r J > . 



bodily size rarely exceeds a length of 6 inches, ranging from the 



Himalaya to the Philippines. They breed in the holes of trees like owls, lay 



eggs of a dull colour and rather long in shape, and live in clearings of the forest 



where they perch on the dead branches of medium-sized trees, lurking for insects, 



and occasionally catching small birds. Of the four species the smallest is the red- 



vol. 11. — 13 



