OF PARROTS. 



39 



flexible ; of a flesh colour, and solid, terminated by 

 a smaD, black, somewhat corneous gland, with its 

 centre hollowed. This little corneous gland is the 

 true tongue of the animal, while the cylindrical 

 portion by which it is sustained, is merely an exten- 

 sion of the hyoid apparatus, which the animal can 

 elongate at will, by an annular apparatus, somewhat 

 analogous to the tongue of Woodpeckers. This 

 tongue is an organ of sense, having the properties of 

 touch and prehension, for the purpose of swallowing. 



De Blainville has shewn, that some of the species 

 of this group, which inhabit the South Sea Islands 

 and Australia, have a tongue terminated by a crown- 

 formed bundle of cartilaginous, filamentary hairs. 

 These he considers as papillae, from the size of the 

 nerves communicating with them. The muscles of 

 their jaws are greatly stronger than those of other 

 birds. Their feet have two toes placed forward, and 

 two backward ; which, with the assistance of their 

 bills, fit them for climbing. 



Modern naturalists have separated this family 

 into several distinct genera. These we shall notice 

 in another volume ; and rt will be sufficient for 

 our present purpose to give the character of the 

 Linnean genus Psittacus. 



The head is large and round ; the bill is short, 

 thick, robust, gibbous, and much arcuated, both 

 above and below ; the upper mandible is greatly 

 bent, hooked at the point, and provided with a 

 notch ; the under mandible is short and truncated, 

 with a cere at its base ; the nostrils are roundish, 



