46 



PHYSICAL CHARACTERS 



reside, seldom retiring to rest at night, while there 

 is any talking, but continue cliattering as long as 

 the family remain out of bed. It is said that the 

 evening is the best time for instructing them in the 

 imitation of language, as they have fewer attractions I 

 at that time. They are, however, diurnal birds. 



All this numerous family are monogamous, j 

 They nestle in holes in the trunks of trees, or in i 

 the crevices of rocks, laying a foundation of rotten 

 wood in the former situation, or dried leaves in 

 the latter. They only lay three or four eggs at a 

 time ; but they incubate several times in a year. 

 The eggs are ovoid, and equally obtuse at bothi 

 ends, about the size of those of a Pigeon, and of a 

 white colour. The young, when hatched, are quite 

 naked, and the head disproportionately large in 

 comparison to the body, which, in many cases, 

 they have scarcely the power of elevating. Their 

 first covering consists of down, which, in the 

 course of two or three weeks, is superseded by 

 feathers. They are protected and fed by their 

 parents till they have undergone the first moult. 

 After they pair, and engage in the important 

 business of incubation, all attention, on the side of 

 either parents or offspring, is for ever terminated. 



Ic was long supposed that Parrots would not 

 breed in captivity, nor out of their native country ; 

 but the truth of this was put to the test in the 

 year 1740 and 1741, when many of these birds in- 

 cubated, in a domesticated state, in different parts 

 of Europe. In 1801, the Amazon Parrot (Psit- 



