544 
ZYGODACTYLI. 
readily taught to articulate the sounds of the human voice, either in 
speech or music, with a surprising exactness, and exhibit also by no 
inconsiderable share of memory. They are, in short, perfect apes, 
and deserve to rank with the most intelligent of irrational ani- 
mals.* They fly with the swiftness of wild pigeons, and climb 
by means of the bill and feet, which last, indeed, supply the 
place of hands, and are often employed for the prehension of their 
food. They feed on fruits and seeds, breaking the hardest pericarps, 
and inflicting powerful bites. They often build and roost in the cav- 
ities of decayed trees, and sometimes also nest in the bifurcation of 
large limbs, or in the cavities of rocks, laying from 2 to 4 roundish, 
white eggs twice a year. They are said to macerate the food for 
their young, and in captivity are nearly omnivorous, but give a pre- 
ference to nuts and kernels. — Note. We have already remarked 
their affinity to the Loxias , one of the species being called indeed, by 
some, German Parrots; and the intermediate link seems decided in 
the Psittirostra ! They have likewise a more remote affinity to the 
Accipitres, from which, at the same time, their habits are wholly 
estranged. The Finches, allied to the Parrots in physical structure, 
have, also, like them, a remarkable degree of docility, and have been 
taught to perform feats with all the address and sagacity of monkeys. t 
The Viduas , in their elongated tails, seem almost to represent the 
section of the Parrakeets. 
Subgenus. — Psittacus. 
With the upper mandible furnished internally with a transverse 
process near the point. 
* For further particulars concerning the docility of the Parrot, see the Introduc- 
tion, p. 20, 21. 
f See the Introduction, p. 21. 
