A DROUGHTY REGIMEN 1 101 



the honey-eating Parrots are also , free . drinkers. 

 Parrots generally, however, can do without drinking 

 to a remarkable extent, and if supplied with moist 

 food in captivity care little for water ; it used even 

 to be the custom to bring over the little Budgerigars 

 (Melopsittacus undulatus) from Australia on dry 

 seed only, with no water during the whole voyage, 

 though under this cruel regime there was naturally 

 a large mortality. It is a curious point about some 

 of the Parrots, by the way, Cockatoos for instance, 

 that their mouths are dry inside, there being 

 apparently no secretion of saliva. In ordinary birds 

 the supply is limited, just enough to moisten the 

 mouth, and such a thing as dribbling or spitting 

 rarely occurs as far as I have seen. 



Hornbills and Bustards can also do without 

 water ; but I have seen both the Great Bustard 

 and the Elate and Black Hornbills (Ceratogymna 

 elata and C. atrata) drink in captivity ; the action 

 of the Hornbills was very awkward, as they pecked 

 up the water as it were, an action also characteristic 

 of the Rhea or American Ostrich (Rhea americana). 

 It may indicate that the habit is a comparatively 

 new one, or that it is being lost. 



With the exception of Pigeons, Sand-Grouse, and 

 the Gouldian Finch (Poephila mirabilis) which 

 drink in a continued draught like horses or cattle, 

 the procedure of birds in drinking is very uniform, 

 the water being scooped up in the lower jaw and 

 allowed to run down the throat ; nectar-feeders, 

 however, lick up their drink with their tongues. It 



