LARGE-BEADED BIEDS. 121 



survey of the neighbourhood, passing over it in circles of great 

 extent, first above the trees, and then gradually lowering, until 

 they almost touch the ground, when, suddenly reascending, they 

 all settle in the tree that bears the fruit of which they are in 

 quest, or on one close to the field in which they expect to regale 

 themselves." 



Many of the species are gregarious, and except during the 

 breeding season, are always seen in large and numerous bodies ; 

 others, as the Black Cockatoo, are met with in pairs or families. 

 The placet) selected for hatching their eggs and rearing their 

 young, are the hollows of decayed trees ; they make little or no 

 nest, but deposit their eggs, which, according to the species, vary 

 from two to five or six in number, upon the bare rotten wood. 

 In these hollows, it is said, they also frequently roost during the 

 night, and such, we learn, is the practice of the bird previously 

 mentioned, for 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 flock of Parrakeets may be seen alighting against the trunk 

 of a sycamore or any other tree, where a considerable exca- 

 vation 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 hold the 

 whole flock, those around the entrance hook themselves on by 

 their claws and the tip of the upper mandible, and look as if 

 hanging by the bill. I have," adds the narrator, " frequently 

 seen them in such positions by means of a glass, and am satisfied 

 that the bill is the only support in such cases." 



The natural notes of this tribe of birds consist entirely of 

 hoarse or shrill and piercing screams, with little or no modula- 

 tion, and frequently reiterated during flight, as well as when 

 otherwise engaged in feeding, bathing, or preserving their plu- 

 mage. The power of imitating the human voice, and learning to 

 articulate a variety of words and sentences, is not possessed by 

 all the species, but is principally 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 flavoured, particularly that of the younger birds, and is fre- 

 quently used as food in the districts they inhabit. 



The general characters of the family are, bill convex, large, 

 deflected, thick, and strong. The upper mandible, overhanging 

 the under, hooked at the tip, and furnished with a small cere at 

 the base; the under mandible thick, ascending, and forming, 

 when closed, an angle with the upper. Tongue thick, fleshy, 



