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GENUS CALYPTORYNCHUS. 
ed, and describing in its profile nearly a semicircle, 
the tip not much elongated, and bending inwards ; 
under mandible massive, dilated, wider than the 
upper, toothed, and deeply emarginate in front, 
nearly concealed by the feathers of the cheeks ; or- 
bits and lores naked ; tongue simple, smooth ; nos- 
trils large, round, lateral, placed behind the corneous 
base of the bill ; wings ample, rounded, the second, 
third, fourth, and fifth quills the longest, and nearly 
equal, their exterior webs emarginate towards the 
middle ; tail of mean length, broad, slightly round- 
ed ; feet and toes rather weak, the tarsi short. The 
width and peculiar form of the lower mandible, and 
the shortness of the whole bill, as compared with its 
depth at the base, as well as its semilunar profile, are 
characters alone of sufficient importance to separate 
the members of this group from the true Cockatoos. 
In addition, the crest which exists is of a different 
form ; the tail is more elongated and rounded, and 
the ground or prevailing colour of the species, instead 
of being light, is always dark, varying from black to 
blackish-grey and blackish-green. So far as our li- 
mited acquaintance with their habits extends, they 
appear to be birds of a wilder and fiercer disposition 
than the generality of the Psittacidse, and less gre- 
garious than the conterminous genera. They are 
said to feed greatly upon bulbous roots, as well as 
on fruits and seeds ; and the denuded tip of the ra- 
chis of the tail-feathers indicates something peculiar, 
and with which we are yet unacquainted, in their 
