AVES. 



67 



posed of ten quills, with stiff and elastic stems, which sustain 

 them as a prop while climbing trees. 



Genus Yunx, Lin. Wryneck. 



Tongue extensible as in the Woodpeckers, but without 

 spines ; beak straight, pointed, nearly round and without an- 

 gles ; their tail has only the ordinary feathers ; they live 

 nearly like the Woodpecker, but climb little. 



Genus Cuoulus, Lin. Cuckoo. 



Beak middling, well cleft, compressed and slightly arcuated ; 

 tail long ; regimen insectivorous ; birds of passage. The 

 female of the true Cuckoo builds no nest in which to depo- 

 sit her eggs, but abandons them in the nest of some other 

 species, which hatches them with its own ; the others build 

 for themselves. 



Genus Rhamphastos, Lin. Toucan. 



Beak voluminous, nearly as large as the bird, light and 

 nearly cellular within, arcuated near the end, irregularly in- 

 dented along the edges ; tongue long, narrow and furnished 

 on each side with barbs like a feather. They are only found 

 in the tropical countries of America. The front of their neck 

 is generally decked with vivid colours, and its feathers were 

 formerly often employed in the dress of French and Ameri- 

 can ladies. 



Genus Psittacus. Parrot. 



Beak stout, hard, solid, rounded on all sides, and enve- 

 loped at base by a membrane in which the nostrils are 

 pierced ; tongue thick, fleshy and rounded — two circum- 

 stances which give them the greatest facility in imitating the 

 human voice ; the inferior larynx somewhat complicated ; 

 their food consists of all kinds of fruit ; they climb among 

 the branches of trees with the aid of their beak and claws ; 

 build in the trunks of trees ; have a voice naturally harsh 

 and disagreeable ; they are almost always adorned with the 

 most lively plumage ; hardly any of them are found beyond 

 the torrid zone ; there are some, however, in both conti- 

 nents. They congregate in forests, where they make great 

 havock. 



