306 VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 



tints, but are occasionally brown or black. They are climbing arbo- 

 real birds that use the bill as an aid to climbing, which is a unique use 

 for this organ. Perhaps the most striking characteristic of the parrots 

 is their ability to articulate. Though their native language is one of 

 discordant screams, they can be taught to mimic human language 

 with moderate success, thus showing their cuckoo-like propensities of 

 pretending to be what they are not. Among the parrots are included 

 cockatoos, parrakeets and macaws. 



ROLLER-LIKE BIRDS (CORACIIFORMES) 



This is one of the largest and most heterogeneous of the avian 

 orders; having affinities with the cuckoo-like birds, on the one hand, 

 and with the sparrow-like birds, on the other. There are seven sub- 

 orders, most of which are not literally roller-like in appearance. 



The Coraciae (true rollers and their allies) include: rollers, mot- 

 mots and todies, kingfishers, bee-eaters, horn-bills, and hoopoes; 

 a rather motley collection of types in itself. The common roller (Fig. 

 158, D) is a native of Southern Europe, outwardly resembling many of 

 the typical passerine birds. The horn-bills (Fig. 157, E) are the most 

 remarkable of the Coracise; they are large birds with enormous bill, 

 used by the male as a trowel in the operation of walling up the female 

 in a hollow tree. Whether the female is a restless sitter and needs 

 thus to be kept on the job, or whether the wall is for her protection 

 while she is confined at her intimate task, it is difficult to say. She 

 is fed, however, by the male, through a small window just large enough 

 for her bill to be thrust out. 



The Striges (owls), are a well-defined group, formerly classed 

 with the Falconiformes on account of their predaceous habits, but 

 now known to have closer affinities with the goat-suckers. The great 

 horned owl (Fig. 158, E) is the finest of its kind, a wise-looking, 

 powerful bird of great size, described as a " veritable tiger among 

 birds." It kills quails, grouse, doves, wild ducks, as well as all sorts of 

 smaller and medium-sized mammals. It hunts at night and hides in 

 hollow trees during the day. The little American screech owl is the 

 commonest and most widely distributed of our owls. 



The Caprimulgi (goat-suckers and their allies) include the oil- 

 bird, the frog-mouths, the goat-suckers or night jars, and the whip- 

 poorwills. They are all much alike, being characterized by rather 

 compact bodies, very short, but extremely wide, bill, and deeply 



