COCKATOOS. 
hi 
imitate, in a disconnected and rambling fashion, it is true, the chattering of his 
compatriot, the budgerigar, or the warbling of his rival the canary.” These birds 
will breed freely in confinement; and they have the advantage of an equable and 
contented disposition, which enables them to live peaceably with the other inhabit¬ 
ants of an aviary, whether great or small. Indeed, so easy-going in disposition is 
the cockatiel, that it will frequently allow itself to be hustled about and bullied by 
its smaller cousin, the budgerigar, the description of which comes later on in the 
chapter. 
The Typical Parrots. 
Family P SITTACID'AS. 
With the exception of 
the peculiar owl-parrot of 
New Zealand, the whole of 
the remaining members of the 
order are included in a single 
family, which comprises a far 
larger number of genera and 
species than either of the 
others. The group is one very 
difficult to define; but, with 
the exception of the Uvsean 
parrot and a kindred species, 
all its members are distin¬ 
guished from the cockatoos by 
the absence of a crest ; while 
in the skull the ring of bone 
is generally imperfect, and if 
complete it always lacks the 
posterior process characteris¬ 
ing that part in the cockatoos. 
The members of this family 
have a very wide geographical 
distribution, ranging over the 
whole of the tropical regions, 
and being the only represen¬ 
tatives of the order met with in Africa and America. In the Australasian region 
they are found in association with all the other five families. The family is divided 
into six subfamilies. 
pigmy parrot (nat. size). 
Subfamily Nasiternix/E. 
New Guinea is a country of strange creatures, but none of its 
Pigmy Parrots. . J , . 
living products are more remarkable than the pigmy parrots, some 
of which are actually smaller than an English sparrow. These birds have their 
beaks shaped as in the cockatoos, with a broad band-like cere, which becomes 
