CAGE AND SINGING BIRDS. 
127 
totally distinct from any tliat we have yet described — a 
large-billed, barsli-voiced, g-aily-attired family, including* 
very many species, most of which are natives, and, in a wild 
state, inhabitants of tropical countries. These birds are placed 
by most naturalists in the scansorial, or climbing order, and 
under the generic term psittacidcd : their claws, which are 
stout and muscular, are admirably adapted for grasping and 
climbing, being armed w^ith sharp curved talons, and pecu- 
liarly placed — two of them projecting forv/ard, and two 
backward. They have a thick fleshy tongue, which accounts 
for their extraordinary powers of articulation, and are alto- 
gether very remarkable and interesting birds. Of their 
habits in a wild state it does not fall within our province to 
speak at any length, but we may state one or two general 
facts. They feed much upon the kernels of fruits, and for 
cracking the hard shells which cover these, are provided 
with a powerful instrument in the bill, the muscles regulat- 
ing the movements of which are strong and numerous ; the 
upper division of this beak is bony, and is connected with 
the skull by means of a joint, so that, unlike most animals, 
which can move the lower jaw only, parrots can move both* 
The tongue is a highly sensitive organ of taste, closely resem- 
bling that of the human species; the surface membrane is 
covered with little irregular dots, and moistened with saliva. 
They are mostly gregarious birds, and have a rapid, elegant, 
and vigorous flight, capable of being long sustained. They 
build chiefly in hollow trees, laying but two eggs at the 
time, and breeding twice a year ; the period of incubation 
varies in different species, but generally it is about twenty 
days ; the young are not full grown until they are twelve 
or fifteen months old, nor do they acquire their full beauty 
of plumage until some time after this. Very rarely has it 
^ been known that they breed in confinement ; in this country 
we believe they have never done so. They are long lived 
birds, not unfr^quently attaining the age of forty years— in 
one or two instances as much as eighty. La Valliant men- 
tions one which he saw when it was ninety -three years 
old. 
Plutarch, Ovid, Pliny, and other Greek and Roman 
writers, allude to parrots, which must have been introduced 
into Europe at a very ^arly period. They appear to have 
