lM«I 



VERTEBRATA. 



J'rom two lo live or six in miiiil)or, upon tlie bare rotten wood. In these hollows, it is said, they 

 also iVeqiUMitlv roost iliirini; the night, ami such, we learn, is the practice of the Carolina parrot just 

 mentioned, tor the same author observes: "Their roosting place is in hollow trees, and the holes 

 excavated by the larger species of Woodpeckers, as far as these can be filled by them. At dusk, 

 a'floek of I'arrakeets may be seen alighting against the trunk of a sycamore or any other tree 

 wheri" a considerable excavation exists within it. Immediately below the entrance, the birds all 

 cling to the bark, and crawl into the hole to pass the night. When such a hole does not prove 

 sufficient to liold the whole flock, those arouml the entrance hook themselves on by the tip of 

 the upper mandible, and thus remain for the night. I have," adds the narrator, "frequently 

 seen them in such positiojis by means of a glass, and am satisfied that the bill is the only sup- 

 port in such cases," 



The natural notes of this tribe of birds consist entirely of hoarse or shrill and piercing screams, 

 with little or no modulation, and frequently reiterated during flight, as well as when otherwise 

 engaged in feeding, bathing, or preserving their plumage. The power of imitating the human 

 voice, and learning to articulate a variety of words and sentences, is not possessed bv all the spe- 

 cies, but is principally, though not wholly, confined to the even-tailed Parrots, in which the 

 tongue is large, broad, and fleshy at the tip. In disposition, with the exception of one or two 

 forms, they are quiet and docile, and easily reconciled to confinement, even when taken at an 

 adult age. Their flesh is said to be tender and well flavored, particularly that of the younger 

 birds, an(l is frequently used as food by the inhabitants in the countries which they inhabit. 



The general 

 characters of the 

 family are : bill 

 convex, large, de- 

 fleeted, thick, and 

 strong; the upper 

 m a n d i b 1 e, over- 

 hanging the un- 

 der, hooked at the 

 tip, and furnished 

 with a small cere 

 at the base ; the 

 under mandible 

 tliick, ascending, 

 and forming, when 

 closed, an angle 

 with the upper ; 

 tongue thick, 

 fleshy, and soft ; 



nostrils round, placed in the cere at the base of the bill ; feet scansorial, the external toes longer 

 than the inner. The upper jnandible is movable, and in order to w^ork their powerful bills, the 

 muscles connected with them are more numerous than in anv other birds. Thev are monogomons, 

 live on fruits of various kinds, use their bills in climbing, and their feet like hands in grasping. 

 Some of the species live to the age of more than a hundred years. In regard to their internal 

 structure, we may observe, that the intestinal canal is of great length, and destitute of coeca. The 

 loquacity of Parrots, and their extraordinary powers of imitation and mimicry, together with the 

 splendor of their plumage, have rendered them at all times favorite domestic birds, and numerous 

 anecdotes are related in proof of their sagacitv and vocal abilitv. 



These birds are divided by many naturalists into numerous genera, but we shall follow Bech- 

 stein, and include them in one, that of PSITTACUS. We shall present them, however in 

 five divisions — the Macrocercinoe or Macaws, found in South America : the Psittacince or Par- 

 rots — properly so called— the short and even-tailed species, found distributed througliout all 

 divisions of the globe within the tropics, and including the Psittacara of South America : the 



HEAD OF MACAW. 



