PARROTS. 
11 
a slight tinge of green ; the under parts, from the 
breast downwards, are of a light orange-yellow ; and 
the throat is of a dusky black, with a hiint greenish 
shade. Tlie blue of the fore part of the head has a 
more decided tinge of green. Tlie naked cheeks have 
their white suffused with a slight roseate blush, and 
are marked by three, or sometimes more, transverse 
lines of minute blackish feathers. In the female, the 
colours are still more vivid, and the tail is also some- 
what longer in proportion ; but the relative size of the 
bird is a trifle less. The bill, which is remarkably 
hooked and pointed in the upper mandible, is black ; 
the feet are dusky. 
The Parrots, properly so called, and which are some- 
times considered the typical group of the family, are 
distinguished by their comparatively stout and gene- 
rally even tail. The bill, though very powerful and 
strong, is more elongated than in the Maccaws, and 
Cockatoos ; the head is large, and the face, with some 
few exceptions, covered with feathers. Tlie species 
are found distributed in Asia, Africa, and America, 
and are all inhabitants of the torrid zone. Many are 
gregarious, except during the period of incubation. 
They breed in the hollows of decayed trees, and most 
of the species are supposed to lay only two white eggs, 
which are incubated alternately by both sexes. In 
disposition they are the most docile of the family, and 
possess the power of imitating the human voice in as 
great or perhaps greater perfection than any of the 
other divisions. 
Another group of this family contains the Cock- 
atoos, so called from the usual call-note of the species . 
