146 AVES. 



beak, which is more broad than high, and curved from the base, its upper 

 ridge arcuated and blunt. Their small feet, feathered nearly down to the 

 toes, long broad tail, fine light and dense plumage, give them quite a dif- 

 ferent air. Some part of their plumage usually has a metallic lustre, 

 the remainder being coloured more or less vividly. They build in hollow 

 trees, live on insects, and remain in a solitary and quiet mood on low 

 branches in the centre of marshy forests, never being seen on the wing ex- 

 cept during the morning and evening. They are found in both continents. 



CROTOPHAGA, Lin. 



The JLni are known by their beak, which is thick, compressed, arcuated, 

 entire, elevated, and surmounted with a vertical and trenchant crest. 



Two species are known, Crotophaga major and Croto ani, both from the 

 hot and low districts of America. Their tarsi are strong and elevated, the 

 tail long and rounded, and the plumage black. 



These Birds feed on Insects and grain, and live in flocks, several couples 

 laying their eggs, and even brooding over them in the same nest, which, 

 together with the branches that support it, is of a size proportioned to the 

 number of couples that have constructed it. They are easily tamed, and 

 may be taught to speak, but their flesh has a disagreeable odour. 



RAMPHASTOS, Lin. 



The Toucans are easily distinguished from all other Birds by their enormous 

 beak, which is almost as thick and as long as their body, light and cellular in- 

 ternally, arcuated near the end, and irregularly indented along its edges; and 

 by their long, narrow, and ciliated tongue. They are confined to the hot 

 climates of America, where they live in small flocks, feeding on fruit and 

 Insects; they also devour other Birds' eggs, and their callow offspring. The 

 structure of their beak compels them to swallow their food without mastica- 

 tion. When they have seized it, they toss it into the air to swallow it with 

 more facility. 



PSITTACUS, Lin. 



The Parrots have a stout, hard, solid beak, rounded on all sides and en- 

 veloped at base by a membrane in which the nostrils are pierced, and a thick 

 fleshy and rounded tongue; two circumstances which give them the great- 

 est facility in imitating the human voice. Their inferior larynx, which is 

 complicated and furnished on each side with its three muscles, also contri- 

 butes to this facility. They feed on all sorts of fruit, climb among the 

 branches of trees by the aid of their beak and claws, and build in hollow 

 trees. Their voice is naturally harsh and disagreeable, and they are almost 

 universally ornamented with the brightest colours, hardly any of them being 

 found beyond the torrid zone. They exist however in both continents, the 

 species of course differing hi each. Every large island even has its pecu- 

 liar species, the short wings of these birds not allowing them to cross any 

 great extent of water. The Parrots, consequently, are very numerous : they 



