20 
THE PARROT TRIBES. 
the preceding. The whole of its upper parts are of a fine bine 
colonr, more or less tinted with green, whilst its lower surface, 
from the breast downwards, is of a light orange-yellow. The 
bill is entirely black, and very large and strong. A peach- 
stone between the mandibles of a macaw is of no more account 
than a walnut between the laps of a pair of iron nut-crackers. 
From the base to the tip the bill of the blue macaw mea- 
sures three inches and a quarter, and is considerably hooked. 
The cheeks are bare, and somewhat resemble the cheeks of the 
turkey. The legs and feet are blackish grey. The throat is 
marked with a largish and blackish spot, which runs under the 
greater part of the bare white skin of the cheeks. 
There is another macaw, not larger than a pigeon, common 
in Brazil and Guinea. Its prevailing colour is green. It is a 
tremendous pest to the coffee-growers, visiting the plantations 
in flocks, and devouring vast quantities of the berries. This 
macaw is said to be particularly susceptible of kindness, and 
violently jealous of anything else favoured or caressed in its 
presence. 
There are others of the parrot tribe called Psittacara, from 
their apparently forming a connecting link between the parrots 
and macaws. They are smaller than the genuine macaws, 
and have the head entirely covered with feathers, except a small 
circle round the eyes. Their plumage is magnificent, and they 
learn to articulate very easily. Le Vaillant relates that he 
once heard one of this tribe say the Lord’s Prayer in Dutch, lying 
on its back the while and folding its feet in an attitude of 
prayer. 
CHAPTER VI. 
THE COCKATOOS. 
These curious birds are confined to the Eastern Archipelago 
and Australia, occurring in the latter country in great 
abundance. Like others of their congeners, they make their 
nests in decayed trees ; indeed, if the tree should not be very 
much decayed, it makes little difference to the cockatoo, 
who can speedily dig for himself a hole in the trunk with his 
iron-like bill. When taken in the nest, or shortly after they 
leave it, it is an easy matter to tame them completely, and, by 
the exercise of much industry and patience, to teach them to imi- 
