120 LARGE-BEAKED B1EDS. 



and even-tailed species, in which the great bulk of the head and 

 bill seems disproportioned to the rest of the body. In the Par- 

 rakeets, this disproportion is in a great degree counteracted by 

 the elongation of the tail, and many of them exhibit an elegance 

 tnd gracefulness of carriage surpassed by few other birds. The 

 formation of the feet, which are zygodactile, or with the toes placed 

 two forwards and two backwards, and in all but a few aberrant 

 species expressly formed for firm prehension and climbing, evi- 

 dently points to woods and forests as the natural habitat of 

 the race. It is accordingly in those regions where the trees are 

 clothed with perpetual verdure, and where a never-failing suc- 

 cession of fruits and seeds can be procured, that the Parrots are 

 found in the greatest number and profusion. Thus, the re- 

 cesses of the interminable forests of South America are enlivened 

 by the presence of the superb Macaws, and the nearly allied 

 species of the genus Psittacara ; those of India and its islands 

 by the elegantly shaped members of the genus Palceornis, and 

 the scarlet clothed Lories ; while those of Australia resound with 

 the harsh voice of the Cockatoos, and the shriller screams of the 

 nectivorous Trickoglossi, and broad-tailed Parrakeets, or Plati- 

 ceri. In these their natural situations, their movements are 

 marked by an ease and gracefulness we can never see exhibited 

 in a state of confinement. They are represented as climbing 

 about the branches in every direction, and as suspending them- 

 selves from them in every possible attitude ; in all their move- 

 ments they are greatly assisted by their hooked and powerful 

 bill, which is used, like the foot, as an organ of prehension and 

 support. The pointed and ample wing, which prevails among 

 the Parrots, indicates a corresponding power of flight ; and, ac- 

 cordingly, we learn from those who have enjoyed the opportunity 

 of seeing and studying them in their native wilds, that it is rapid, 

 elegant, and vigorous, capable of being long sustained, and that 

 many of the species are in the habit of describing circles and 

 other aerial evolutions, previous to their alighting upon the trees 

 which contain their food. Thus AUDUBON, in his account of the 

 Carolina Parrakeet, says : " Their flight is rapid, straight, and 

 continued through the forests, or over fields and rivers, and is 

 accompanied by inclinations of the body, which enable the ob- 

 server to see alternately their upper and under parts. They 

 deviate from a direct course only when impediments occur, such 

 as trunks of trees or houses, in which case they glance aside in a 

 very graceful manner, as much as may be necessary. A general 

 cry is kept up by the party, and it is seldom that one of these 

 birds is on wing for ever so short a space, without uttering its 

 cry. On reaching a spot which affords a supply of food, instead 

 of alighting at once, as many birds do, the Parrakeets take a good 



