SCANSORES. 313 



legs, the thick and scaly toes, arranged in pairs, 

 the strongly curved claws, the round fleshy tongue, 

 and above all the large, round, hooked beak, need 

 not the more obvious character of colour at once 

 to discover its relation. They abound in both hemi- 

 spheres, but scarcely pass the limits of the tropical 

 regions. 



Notwithstanding their great general similarity, 

 there are, however, sufficient differences of form 

 among the species to enable naturalists readily to 

 group them in sub -genera. The chief of these 

 are the Macaws, (Macrocercus*) including the 

 Parrokeets, distinguished by their long tails and 

 the extremely hooked form of their bills ; the Par- 

 rots, (Psittacus^ with short even tails ; the Cocka- 

 toos, (Plyctolopkus^} with a folding crest, broad 

 tail, and a plumage in general more or less white ; 

 the Lories, (Lorius,^) with a bill less curved, a 

 wedge-form tail, and a plumage whose ground-colour 

 is scarlet, brilliantly contrasted, however, with other 

 colours ; and the Broad- tails, (Platycercus,) includ- 

 ing the lovely Ground Parrokeets of New Holland, 

 distinguished by the great length and width of the 

 tail and the comparative slenderness of the feet. 



The species which, of the whole tribe, is the 

 most remarkable for its aptitude at learning the 

 sounds of human language, is the common Grey 



* Max^oy, makros, long, and xigxos, kerJcos, a tail, 

 t TlXuffo-u, plysso, to fold, and A-o^a;, lophos, a crest. 

 J Lory, from their cry. 



$ nxa<ruj, platys, broad, and xigxos, fcerkos^ a tail. 

 VOL. I. P 



