lie is therefore prone to picture, were to spread itself 

 IVoiu bi.s own sad bosom into the depth of darkly-shaded 

 forests, -where so many gorgeous feathered inmates dwell, 

 or among oceans' rocks, amid upheaving waters, or 

 wave -worn caves, or chrj-stal rivers, with their golden 

 sands. 



But we have been led into a longer digression than 

 we intended ; and, therefore, resuming our encjuiries, 

 proceed at once to the consideration of the numerous 

 tribes of Parrots, by which (case seventy-six) we are 

 now surrounded. The genus, Psittacus, according to 

 Linnaius, comprehends the almost innumerable tribe of 

 parrots, lories, parokeets, maccaws, and cockatoos, hav- 

 ing the bill curved, thick, and generally sharp-pointed, 

 and the tongue thick, round, and fleshy, the lower larynx 

 being furnished on each side with three peculiar muscles, 

 which probably contribute to the facility with which 

 these birds acquire the articular intonation of the human 

 voice. Their natural food consists of fruits and seeds, 

 in search of which they will climb trees with the 

 greatest facility, suspending themselves indifferently by 

 tlieir hooked-bill or feet. Their voices are harsh and 

 discordant, their fonns often elegant, and their plumage 

 usually beautiful. They form, indeed, a magnificent 

 famil}-, abounding in almost every region of the torrid 

 zone, and in the new world extending from the shores of 

 the Ohio to the straits of Magellan, thus presenting a 

 vast and varied assemblage of species from ever}' country 

 i of the world, excepting the compai-atively cold and 

 cloudy clime of Europe. The modern sub-divisions of 

 this great natural family are too numerous and too 



minute to be here recorded ; and we must, therefore, 

 satisfy ourselves with a glance at the varieties here pre- 

 sented to the spectator. There is nobody, we presume, 

 at this enlightened day, that would desire to be edified, 

 under the pretence of popular reading, by oft-told 

 , anecdotes of parrots ; we shall, therefore, devote^ the 

 I little space we can afford to a consideration of the objects 

 1 immediately before us. 



