52 



PHYSICAL CHARACTERS 



The whole tribe seem fond of water, and may be 

 seen in great numbers on the borders of streams, or 

 in marshy places, in their native haunts, washing 

 and bathing themselves, even several times a-day ; 

 and, having shaken the water from their plumage, 

 spread their wings to be dried by the sun and air. 

 They exhibit the same predilection for bathing in a 

 captive, as they do in a wild state. 



M. Levaillant is of opinion, that domestication 

 has the effect of changing the colour of the plumage 

 of birds of this family, as is the case with other birds 

 under the dominion of man ; and thus producing 

 the numerous varieties observable in Parrots. 



Many Parrots attain a great age ; the mean 

 duration of their existence being estimated at forty 

 years. But there have been instances of their living 

 in captivity to ninety and even one hundred years. 

 That division called Parrakeets are shorter lived, 

 from twenty-five to thirty years being the average 

 length of their lives. 



In internal structure. Parrots have several pecu- 

 liaiities. The cranium is rounded and strong ; the 

 OS furcatum is somewhat pointed towards the 

 sternum, and formed like the letter V. The sternum 

 is provided with a large keel, or median crest ; and 

 it has neither lateral nor posterior emargination ; 

 its body is ample, and furnished with an oval 

 foramen, of moderate dimensions, and closed by a 

 membrane situated near the abdomen, as in predar 

 tory birds, and the division of birds termed Palmi" 

 pedes. They have a complicated lower larynx, 



