8 THE PARROT TRIBES. 
birds, on seeing the painting of a flower, attempted to suck it, 
and repeated the endeavonr when a piece of coloured chintz was 
shown it. 
The eyes of the parrot being placed on either side of his head, 
he cannot distinguish a small object held close to him, without 
turning his head on one side, which gives a bird so employed a 
grotesquely-critical air. The colour of the iris differs consider- 
ably in different species. In some it is of a golden hue, hi 
others orange, or pearl-grey, or red, or brown, but it is gene- 
rally found to grow of a deeper tint with increasing age. The 
upper and lower lids form a perfectly round orifice, and the 
upper lid is movable. The pupil of the parrot’s eye is not, 
as in most birds and animals, situated in the centre of the iris, 
but inclines inward. This is not its only peculiarity. The bird 
can contract the pupil of the eye, independently of the in- 
fluence of light, anger, fear, or mirth. Any excitement, indeed, 
will induce the pupil of the parrot’s eye to dwindle, till it 
looks a tiny spot no bigger than the smallest pin’s head. 
In respect of plumage the hen birds often differ from the 
males ; this, however, is not observable in adults, for, after the 
first, second, sometimes even as late as the third moulting, they 
remain of exactly the same colour. The tail is composed of 
twelve quills, a circumstance to be borne hi mind by the doubt- 
ing purchaser, when the unscrupulous seller tells him that the 
bird’s tail is not yet fully grown. As the wings of the parrot 
are, as a rule, and when compared with the bulk of his body, 
short, it has, or seems to have, a difficulty in rising from the 
ground; when, however, it has attained a proper elevation, it 
can fly very well, and with considerable rapidity. 
Habitat oe the Parrot Tribe. — The European parrot-market 
is supplied almost entirely by importation. There can be no 
doubt, however, that the birds in question will breed in Europe, 
but it must be in localities where the temperature of the air is 
warm and unvarying. At Caen, for instance, M. Lamouroux 
informs us, there were, some years ago, two blue macaws that 
bred year after year. In four years and a half these buds 
produced sixty -two eggs, and from this number were hatched 
twenty -five young ones, of which ten only died. 
The number of eggs laid by these macaws varied from two 
to six, and took from twenty to twenty-five days to hatch. The 
eggs were pear-shaped, and of almost the size of a pigeon’s egg. 
The little macaws were born as naked as babies, and it was 
more than three weeks before they became clothed with a thick 
