304 . AVES. 
Parrots, live in flocks, build many of their nests on the same bush, 
and sleep suspended to its branches in crowds, with the head down- 
wards. They feed on fruit.(1) ; 
Here also come the , 
Burnaea, Briss. 
The Beef-eaters form a small genus in which the beak is of a mode- 
rate length, cylindrical at the beginning, and inflated (both mandibles) 
near the end, which terminates in a blunt point. They use it to 
compress the skin of cattle in order to force out the larve of the 
GEstrus lodged in it, on which they feed. ; 
One species only is known, and that is from Africa; brownish, 
with a moderate sized cuneiform tail; as large as a Thrush. 
Buphaga africana, Enl.2933; Vaill. Afr. pl. 973 Vieill. Gal. 
> 
Cassicus, Cuv. 
A large and exactly conical beak, thick at base, and very sharp at the 
point; small round nostrils, pierced on the sides; the commissure of the 
mandibles forms a broken line, or is angular like that of the Star- 
lings. They are American birds, whose manners are similar to those 
of the last mentioned ones, living like them in flocks, frequently 
constructing their nests close together, and sometimes. with much 
art. They feed on grain and Insects, and do great injury to culti- 
vated grounds. We subdivide them as follows: — w : 
Cassicus,(2) properly so styled. 
The base of the beak mounts on the forehead, encroaching on the 
plumage, and forming a semicircular notch in it. The largest spe- 
cies belong to this subgenus.(3) 
(1) Col. capensis, Enl. 282, 1; Vaill. 258, ‘and the young, 256. This latter is 
the C. striatus, and the C. panayensis;—Col. erythropus, Gm.; leuconotus, Lath. 
Vaill. 257;—Col. gularis, Vaill. 259, _ 
_ [place near the Colies the birds called Meriou natté (Malurus. textilis, Less.) 
and Merion leucoptére (M. leucopterus, Id.), Voy. de Freycin. pl. 23. 
(2) Vieill. has adopted this name and genus, 
(3) Cassicus bifasciatus, Spix, LXI, a;—Cassic. angustifrons, Id. LXU; —Cass. 
nigerrimus, Id. LXU, 1;—Oriolus ecristatus, Enl. 344;—y 328; :—hemorrhous, 482;— 
persicus, 184. (N.B. That it is not from Persia, but from America, like the others. )-— 
A black species, with metallic reflections, the plumes of whose neck are erectile, 
and form a kind of mantle. It is the Raja troupiale of Azz. Voy. I, Ps 167. 
