CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS. 



Those who are familiar with modern works on ornithology will have observed that it is usual to 

 commence the history of the feathered tribes by a description of the vultures — the most disagreeable 

 and least intelligent of the race. Some writers, however, consider the singing birds as entitled to the 

 first place, the remaining members of the heterogeneous multitude being arranged according to the 

 pleasure of individual naturalists more or less acquainted with their subject. For our own part, we 

 recognise in the parrots the qualifications most fitted to entitle them to take the precedence, and it is, 

 consequently, with these that we shall commence our history. Ornithologists, moreover, differ widely 

 among themselves as regards the relation that exists between the parrots and other members of the 

 class to which they belong, either placing them in a group by themselves, in a manner never intended 

 by Nature, or associating them with toucans, woodpeckers, and cuckoos, with which they possess but 

 few characteristics in common. Under these circumstances, we have considered ourselves at liberty 

 to adopt our own views upon the subject, and have, accordingly, constituted for the parrots a distinct 

 order, under the quaint but expressive name of 



CRACKERS {Enucleatores), 



in allusion to the facility with which, owing to the construction of their beaks, they are enabled to 

 crack nuts, and other hard seeds, that form the usual staple of their food. 



The order that we have thus thought it advisable to establish is, however, by no means limited to 

 the parrots ; it includes various other seed-eating birds, chiefly belonging to the passerine tribes, the 

 resemblance of which to parrots has been in some cases generally acknowledged in selecting the 

 names ordinarily conferred upon them. Thus, the Cross-bills have long been known in Germany as 

 the Fir-tree Parrots, and, on the other hand, the epithet of Sparrow-parrots, applied to some 

 races of climbing-birds, clearly shows the relationship that exists between these generally dissevered 

 groups. 



The birds thus associated will be found to present many features in common. They live chiefly 

 upon vegetable substances, and their strong beaks enable them to break up hard kinds of food, such 

 as nuts, seeds, and grain. They will also eat fruit and leaf-buds, or the tender shoots of plants ; 

 many will devour insects ; and a few do not altogether reject the flesh of other animals. They are all 

 clever, lively, and active, much attached to the society of birds of their own species, though they do 

 not often cultivate acquaintance with those belonging to a different family. Their great intelligence 

 enables them to live comfortably even under disadvantageous circumstances, and their temperament 

 allows them to fight the " battle of life " very cheerfully. Owing to the diversity of their habits, they 

 are necessarily widely distributed, and some of them are to be met with in every climate ; the parrots 

 only are restricted to the torrid zones, the remaining members of the order being citizens of the world. 

 As to the localities they frequent, much depends upon the absence or presence of the trees to which 

 they usually resort, by far the greater number being strictly arboreal, passing their whole lives in flying 

 from tree to tree, and confining their excursions to a very limited district. Only such as live in cold 

 countries migrate ; indeed, regular migrations — that is to say, such as take place at stated periods — or 



