216 
VERTEBEATA. 
from two to five or six in number, upon the bare rotten wood. In these hollows, it is said, they 
also frequently roost during the night, and such, we learn, is the practice of the Carolina parrot just 
mentioned, for the same author observes : " Their roosting place is in hollow trees, and the holes 
excavated by the larger species of Woodpeckers, as far as these can be filled by them. At dusk, 
a flock of Parrakeets may be seen alighting against the trunk of a sycamore or any other tree 
where a considerable excavation exists within it. Immediately below the entrance, the birds all 
cling to the bark, and crawl into the hole to pass the night. When such a hole does not prove 
sufiicient to hold the whole flock, those around the entrance hook themselves on by the tip of 
the upper mandible, and thus remain for the night. I have," adds the naiTator, "frequently 
seen them in such positions by means of a glass, and am satisfied that the bill is the only sup- 
port in such cases." 
The natural notes of this tribe of birds consist entirely of hoarse or shrill and piercing screams, 
with little or no modulation, and frequently reiterated during flight, as well as when otherwise 
engaged in feeding, bathiug, or preserving their plumage. The power of imitating the human 
voice, and learning to articulate a variety of words and sentences, is not possessed by all the spe- 
cies, but is principally, though not wholly, confined to the even-tailed Parrots, in which the 
tongue is large, broad, and fleshy at the tip. In disposition, with the exception of one or two 
forms, they are quiet and docile, and easily reconciled to confinement, even when taken at an 
adult age. Their flesh is said to be tender and well flavored, particularly that of the younger 
birds, and is frequently used as food by the inhabitants in the countries which they inhabit. 
The general 
characters of the 
family are : bill 
convex, large, de- 
flected, thick, and 
strong; the upper 
mand ible, over- 
hanging the un- 
der, hooked at the 
tip, and furnished 
with a small cere 
at the base ; the 
under mandible 
thick, ascending, 
and forming, wh en 
closed, an angle 
with the upper ; 
tongue thick, 
fleshy, and soft ; 
nostrils round, placed in the cere at the base of the bill ; feet scansorial, the external toes longer 
than the inner. The upper mandible is movable, and in order to work their powerful bills, the 
muscles connected with them are more numerous than in any other birds. They are monogomous, 
live on fruits of various kinds, use their bills in climbing, and their feet like hands in grasping. 
Some of the species live to the age of more than a hundred years. In regard to their internal 
structure, we may observe, that the intestinal canal is of great length, and destitute of coeca. The 
loquacity of Parrots, and their extraordinary powers of imitation and mimicry, together with the 
splendor of their plumage, have rendered them at all times favorite domestic birds, and numerous 
anecdotes are related in proof of their sagacity and vocal ability. 
These birds are divided by many naturalists into numerous genera, but we shall follow Bech- 
stein, and include them in one, that of PSITTACUS. We shall present them^ however in 
five divisions — the MacrocercmcB or Macaws, found in South America : the, Psittadnm or Par- 
rots — properly so called — the short and even-tailed species, found distributed throughout all 
divisions of the globe within the tropics, and including the Fsittacara of South America : the 
HEAD OF MACAW. 
