HISTORY OF THE PARROTS. 
83 
tirely 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, bathing, 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 species, but is principally con- 
fined to the short and even-tniled 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 flavoured, 
particularly that of the younger birds, and is fre- 
quently used as food in the districts they inhabit. 
The general characters of the family are — bill convex, 
large, deflected, thick, and strong. The upper man- 
dible, overhanging the under, hooked at the tip, and 
furnished with a small cere at the base, the under 
mandible thick, ascending, and forming when 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 toeB longer 
than the inner. In regard to their internal anatomy, 
we may here observe that the bill is furnished with 
additional and powerful muscles, and that the intes- 
tinal canal is of great length and destitute of coeca. 
We shall now proceed to describe the examples 
selected to illustrate the different groups, making 
