ALLERY.] NATURAL HISTORY. 33 
inhabitants of Africa, where they live in flocks, feeding generally on fruits; 
when they take their rest they sleep in companies, suspended to the 
branches by one foot, the head lowermost. 
The family of Plantain-eaters (Musophagidje, Case 71) have large 
elevated and gibbose bills, with the margin generally serrated; their wings 
more or less lengthened and rounded ; their tarsi short, and the outer toe 
sometimes versatile. The Plantain-eaters (Musophagince) have the 
outer toe versatile. They inhabit Africa, where they live in pairs or 
families, feeding generally on fruits. In the Opisthocomince, the outer 
toe is not versatile. They are found in Guiana, perched on some branch, 
in small flocks, along the margin of inundated places, where they sub¬ 
sist on leaves and seeds of Arum. 
The family of Hornbills (Bucerid^e, Cases 72 and 73) have a very 
large beak, like the Toucans, but heavier, and varying greatly in shape, 
according to the age of the bird; they feed on fruits, mice, small birds 
and reptiles. Like the Toucans, they swallow their food whole, throwing 
it in the air and catching it, to facilitate their swallowing it. They are 
peculiar to the warm parts of Asia and Africa. 
Lastly, the Scansoriai Birds (Scansores) have short feet, fitted for 
climbing; most of them have the power of turning one of the front 
toes behind, so as to have two toes before and two behind, thus enabling 
them to hold more firmly to their perch. 
The family of Parrots ( Psittachle, Cases 74—76) are known to 
every one by their domestic habits; they are characterised by their 
short, hard beak, which is surrounded at the base by a naked skin, like 
the falcon’s, in which is placed the nostrils; and they have a short 
tongue, which is usually fleshy, but in a few, as the Black Cockatoo, 
it is hard and tubular. They are a very numerous group, and have 
been divided into many genera ; they live chiefly on fruit; they build in 
the hollow trees. The Ground-Parrakeets (Pezoporince, Case 74) 
have the tail lengthened, very broad, and sometimes cuneated; their 
tarsi somewhat elevated; their upper mandible is convex, and the lower 
deep with the gonys curved. They are principally inhabitants of 
Australia; they seek their food chiefly on the ground, consisting of fruits, 
and some seeds of grasses, and others on the flowers of the Eucalypti. 
The Maccaws (Arince, Case 74) have the tail lengthened, graduated 
and with the ends pointed; their upper mandible is smaller than the 
lower, which is deeper than long. They live in flocks, in the forests of 
the Western World; their food consists of fruits, maize, &c. The 
Lories ( Lorinos , Case 75) mostly have their tail short and square ; their 
bills are rather weak, curved, with margin of the upper serrated, and the 
lower mandible longer than deep. They inhabit principally the Indian 
Islands, where they feed on honey and fruits. The Parrots ( Psittacince , 
Cases 75 and 76) have their tail short, even or rounded at the end; 
the upper mandible dentated and longer than high. They are found 
both in the Old and New Worlds. The Cockatoos ( Cacatuince , Case 
76) have the culmen of the bill much elevated and curved from the 
base; their tail lengthened, broad and rounded, their head large and 
generally crested. Some feed on fruits, seeds of the Eucalypti, and 
others on roots of bulbs. 
The family of Toucans (Ramphastidje, Case 77) are distinguished by 
their very large, light, cellular beaks, which are irregularly notched on 
c 3 
