76 



CLASS AVES. 



ORDER S C A N S O R I. 



its tongue, makes part of the Ramphasti of Linnaeus, from which, however, 

 it is further distinguished by the beak being of smaller size, more tough and 

 solid, and by the tail being proportionally longer and distinctly graduated. 

 Like the Toucans they are natives of South America, and fly heavily ; but 

 notwithstanding they get to the tops of the highest trees, where they are 

 fond of perching, and continue throughout the day in constant motion, 

 carefully watching what is passing below them. They feed on fruit, and 

 occasionally also on young birds. When about to swallow their food they 

 give it a jerk into the air, and catch it open-mouthed. Eight species. 



RAMPHASTOS (Gr. pd^i^oc, a beak) Toucan. This genus is remarkable 

 for the great size of its bill, which in some species nearly equals the length 

 of the body ; but though bulky it is light, being made up of a delicate bony 

 texture covered with thin horn, and its edges are serrated or toothed like a 

 saw ; it differs according to the species in the greater or less convexity of 

 its sides, the sharpness or roundness of its culmen or upper edge, and the 

 smoothness or jaggedness of its cutting edges ; it also varies as to size and 

 colour according to age, even in the same species ; the naked space around 

 the eyes, except in three species, in which it is crimson, is of a slaty-blue, 

 which also colours the legs. Their tails are short and square, which dis- 

 tinguishes them from the Aracaris (Pteroglossus). Their form is narrow 

 and slender, but the size of their bill and the shortness of their tail give 

 them, when at rest, a clumsy and sluggish appearance, which, however, is 

 immediately lost when the bird is roused, its motions being then easy and 

 elegant. They have great similarity in colour, which has given rise to con- 

 fusion of the species ; their general colour is black, but in all the known 

 species the throat, upper and under tail-coverts differ from the ground colour ; 

 the front of the neck and upper part of the chest are either white or yellow, 

 bounded below by a crimson band varying in breadth and sometimes cover- 

 ing the whole chest ; the under tail-coverts are always crimson, and the 

 upper either crimson, white, or yellow. 



This remarkable genus of birds is strictly confined to the tropical regions 

 of South America, where it occupies the same station as the Hornbills in 

 Asia and Africa, and the Rain-bird in New Holland. 



In the " Zoological Journal," vol. ii., a very excellent paper has been 

 given by Mr. Vigors, in which the confusion involving many of the species 

 has been satisfactorily cleared. And this has been more completely followed 

 up by the arrangement of the genus in sections by Mr. Gould in his 

 " Monograph of the Ramphastidae." 



SCYTHROPS Channel-Mi. One species found in New Holland and in 

 the Southern Archipelago. Its length is about twenty-five inches, and it 

 feeds on the seed of the red gum and peppermint tree. 



TAMATIA Puff-bird. The Puff-birds, which generally measure eight 

 inches in length, are natives of the Brazils, and acquire their English name 

 from their large, bulky head being rendered still larger by raising the feathers 

 and giving it the appearance of a puff-ball ; but, when frightened, the form 

 of the head is altered by the sudden flattening of the feathers. Throughout 

 nearly the whole day they sit motionless on the branch of a dead tree, 

 except when an insect comes within their reach, upon which they raise the 

 head-feathers, and darting upon it, immediately return to the same branch, 

 upon which it is said they will sit for months. If compelled to leave their 

 retreat in search of insects, upon which they principally feed, their whole 

 manner exhibits great timidity, and they are continually ducking down to 

 avoid discovery. Five species. 



TROGON Cauroucou. " Splendour and brilliancy of plumage," says 

 Temminck, "are indeed the only gifts in which the Couroucous participate ; 

 elegance of form, nobleness of gait, quickness of flight, docility and sweet- 

 ness of manner, they have not." Their abundant plumage is very slightly 

 connected by its delicate quill to an exceeding thin skin, so that the slightest 

 touch detaches considerable portions of it. Their irides are dusky and 

 scarcely visible, and the edges of the eyelids always coloured. Their tail is 

 narrow, long, and graduated. They are found in both the old and new 

 world ; all those of the latter being distinguished by many delicate denticu- 

 lations along the margins of both mandibles, whilst the former have but 

 one. During the daytime they sit perched on a branch of thick underwood, 



and are scarcely visible, and even when observed do not take to flight, but 

 allow of being approached without fair and are easily token. D'Azzara 

 says they do not descend from their perch, but quietly sit and snap up such 

 insects as come within their reach. They feed also on some soft succulent 

 fruits, and only leave their cool and shady retreat at early morn and evening. 

 Their breeding-time occurs frequently during the year, and at these periods 

 the male leaves his solitude and utters a doleful cry, somewhat resembling 

 its name couroucou. The species are twenty, divided into two subgenera 

 denticulated and non-denticulated beaks. 



Family PARROTS ; Psittadda. 



These Birds are of beautiful plumage : they belong to the torrid zone, 

 and the species are very numerous. They have strong beaks, rounded, ami 

 curved ; their tongue is thick, and fleshy ; and they have a complicated 

 and muscular inferior larynx. They climb well, using both their claw- and 

 hooked beaks, and some of them their tails, for that purpose. 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



PLATE 8. 

 Genus rsiTTACCS. 



Sub-Genera. 



Species. 



Ara seu Macroceros - Aracanga 



Conurus - - - 



Psittacnla - - 



Psittacus - - - 



Plyctolophus - - 



Microglossus - - 



Solsticialis- 



- Pileatus - 



- Erythracus 



- Nasicus 



- Goliath. - 



Common Name. 



Scarlet Maccaw. 

 Angola-yellow Parrakeet. 

 Bonneted Psittacule. 

 Gray Parrot. 

 Long-nosed Cockatoo. 

 Gray small-tongued Parrot. 



CHARACTERS OF THE GENEP.A. 



PSITTACUS (Gr. ^araKri, a Parrot). Beak convex above and below, 

 compressed, short, thick, large and strong, and curved from the base ; upper 

 mandible very much hooked at the tip, more or less pointed ; lower man- 

 dible short, obtuse, and turned upwards at the tip, which is often worn 

 away and exhibiting two points ; tongue, in most, thick, round, and Ilcshv : 

 nostrils basal, roundish, patulous, and placed in the cere ; wings not of 

 great length but strong ; of variable form and length ; legs short and strong, 

 the tarsus generally much shorter than the outer toe ; front toes connected 

 at their base ; the soles of all the toes wide. 



This very numerous and highly-interesting genus of birds is spread 

 extensively over the earth, being found between 42 of north and 55 of 

 south latitude, increasing greatly in number as it approaches, and diminishing 

 as it recedes from the Equator, so that the species found in the extreme 

 northern and southern latitudes are very few. 



Parrots, in general, feed upon kernels, rarely meddling with the fruit 

 except to get at the kernel. One section of them, however, which are 

 found in Australia, differ in this respect, as they suck the vegetable juices 

 like many other New Holland birds, and have a peculiar kind of tongue for 

 the purpose. In domestication they may be taught to eat almost every- 

 thing, and even meat and bones. But the habit of eating meat often leads 

 to serious consequences, as when the bird cannot obtain this, which occa- 

 sionally becomes its favourite food, it will pluck its own feathers and suck 

 the stems, till it has pulled off all its feathery covering, except the wing 

 and tail quills, which would give it, if plucked, rather more pain than it 

 could very well bear. According to Vieillot, this habit arises from a 

 morbid itching of the skin, which induces the Parrot to pull out i 

 and does not depend on the kind of food upon which it has been fed. As 

 to fluids they take but little, but are easily taught to drink wine, of which 

 they soon become very fond, as was long since noticed both by Aristotle 

 and Pliny. Although living together in large societies, each male lias its 

 own female, by which he is always seen perched; and at breeding-time 

 each pair chooses its own particular residence apart from the others, in the 

 hollow either of a tree or rock, where the hen-bird makes her nest of dried 

 leaves, moss, or fragments of rotten wood. Four eggs are laid, and the 

 male, as well as the female, assists in the process of incubation. When 



