364 CUCULIFORMES 



CHAP. 



Macaws ; yet some species are sober in tint, and that of the beak 

 and feet varies considerably in different forms. Stringops has a 

 disc of stiff feathers round the eye, Nympliicus and the Cacatuinae 

 possess crests, Deroptyus broad erectile nape-plumes. Bare fore- 

 heads, cheeks or orbits, of a red, pink, blue, yellow, black, grey, or 

 white hue are found in Microglossus, Cacatua, Licmetis, Anodo- 

 rhynchus, Cyanopsittacus, Ara, Poeoceplmlus, Psittacus, Coracopsis, 

 and Dasyptilus ; while powder-down patches or tufts occur on the 

 neck, shoulders, and sides of the Cacatuinae, Psittacus, and Cliry- 

 sotis. The length varies from some thirty inches in the Great 

 Black Cockatoo (Microglossus) to about three in the diminutive 

 Nasiterna pygmaea. The name Macaw is applied to Ara and 

 its nearest allies, Love-bird to Agapornis and Psittacula, Parakeet 

 to Platycercus and Palaeornis, Lorikeet to Loriculus, Charmosyna, 

 and Coriphilus, Lory to Eclectus, Trichoglossus, Lorius, Chalco- 

 psittacus, and Eos, King Lory to Aprosmictus. 



Parrots usually feed and roost in company, though in Eclectus 

 the habits are said to be more solitary ; the males are, however, 

 monogamous, each courting a single female, which twitters and 

 rolls the head from side to side when love-making. The haunts 

 include wooded districts, grassy plains, or even rocky hills and 

 sandy flats ; Stringops being almost entirely terrestrial, Melo- 

 psittacus and Neopliema (Grass-Parakeets), with Geopsittacus and 

 Pezoporus (Ground-Parakeets), being mainly so, while Cockatoos 

 and many other forms habitually frequent high trees, though 

 Cacatua galerita, Licmetis nasica, and several species of Platy- 

 cercus spend much time upon the ground. Most Parrots walk 

 with considerable ease, and climb well ; their flight is commonly 

 low and undulating, but is comparatively strong in Nestor, the 

 Macaws, the Lories, and the like ; the last-named climb less, and 

 often hop along the ground. Loriculus, when sleeping, generally 

 hangs by one foot. Little drink seems necessary, as the vegetable 

 food is ordinarily succulent ; plantains, papaw-apples, figs, and 

 tamarinds being varied by flowers, buds, leaves, hard palm-nuts, 

 and fruits of Platanus, Oasuarina, Banksia, Cactus, or Capsicum. 

 Grass-Parakeets and their nearest allies subsist almost entirely 

 on grass-seeds and grain, Licmetis and some other Cockatoos dig for 

 tubers and bulbs, CalyptorliyncJius and Nestor search the bark of 

 trees for insects, while the latter and the Loriinae suck honey 

 from the flowers of Phormium and Eucalyptus. Nestor notalilis, 



