rality of Parrots are unable to walk with ease upon the ground. Some species there are which live habitually upon the ground, but these have much less motion of the joints at the articulation of the tarsus with the toes than is prevalent amongst the climbing Parrots. The tarsi of the ground Parrots are much longer in proportion, and the articulations of the toes are altogether firmer, so that some of the species can run upon the ground with a facility approaching to that of the gallinaceous tribes.

In the variety of their colours, few birds equal the Parrots; their plumage is generally of remarkable brilliancy and splendour. It is firm in its texture and not easily ruffled, qualities essentially requisite, considering the nature of their haunts. Their wings are powerful, though not altogether adapted to keep the bird in the air for any length of time. The feathers are not so constructed as to take hold on the air, like those of the long-flying birds. The tail varies in length and shape, but it is generally lengthened and wedge-shaped. Although in a state of nature they are wild birds, and are of little use to man, yet they are susceptible of being tamed, and, with proper treatment, may be kept in confinement for many years, when they show a very considerable degree of attachment to those who feed and are otherwise kind to them. Owing to the very great difficulty of approaching their haunts, but very little is known of the Parrot in a state of nature. It is known, however, that they inhabit forests; that many of them are social birds, often rising from the trees in large flocks, and laying the cultivated fields under pretty severe contributions;

that their principal food is vegetable; that they nestle chiefly in the holes of trees, having two broods in the year; and that they are very noisy withal: but this is nearly all that is known of these birds in wild nature.

The whole family has been divided into the following sub-families, viz., Macrocercina, Maccaws; Psittacina, Parrots; Plyctolophina, Cockatoos; Loriana, Lories; and Platycercina, Broadtails or Loriets.

The Platycercina compose Mr. Swainson's fissirostral division of the family, and are considered by him as analogous to the fissirostral tube of the Insessores. They are less arboreal in their habits than others of the family, and are distinguished, says Mr. Selby, from the rest of the Psittacidae by their slender and elevated tarsi, and the less falcated form of their claws. Their wings also are shorter, and rounded, the first quillfeather being inferior to some of the succeeding ones. In consequence of this formation, their habits are less strictly scansorial than those of the typical Parrots; but the deficiency is amply compensated by the ease and agility with which they move upon the ground, where their actions partake in a great measure of that freedom which distinguishes so many of the scansorial order, but which is almost denied to the typical Parrots, whose movements upon a plain surface are to a great degree awkward and constrained. The Platycercine are birds of elegant and graceful form, and their carriage and actions are in accordance with it, as they display an activity and liveliness of motion far superior to that of the true scansorial species, and more in character with that of other birds. In richness and diversity of plumage also, they yield to none

of the tribe, whether we admire it in the varied hues of the genus Platycercus or in those smaller species belonging to the genus Nanodes, which have aptly been termed miniature Maccaws.

Even among the splendid family of the Parrots, Mr. Bennett observes, the Maccaws claim a pre-eminent rank for their superior size and the brilliancy and variety of their colours. They are at once distinguished by the nakedness of their cheeks, which are furnished at the utmost with a few minute lines of scattered hairs or feathers; by the great length and deep curvature of their upper mandible, and the extreme brevity of the lower, which latter is generally indented on either side with a notch of greater or less extent, corresponding to an elevated tooth in the former; and by the prolongation and regular graduation of their tail, which is larger than the rest of their body. The elegance of their plumage, the singularity of their deportment, their mildness of temper and docility in captivity, render them peculiar favourites; but they are by no means equal to most of the other divisions of the Parrot tribe in activity, in intelligence, in familiarity, or in the imitative power of their voice.

The Blue and Yellow Maccaw (Macrocercus ararauna) is one of the most conspicuous examples of the group. It is a large species (though not the largest of the Maccaws), measuring nearly three feet in length. Like all the other species of the group, it is a native of the tropical regions of America. It is fond of rich and marshy places, where it roosts generally on the tall palm trees, and lives in great part on their fruits. As is the case with its congeners, it generally keeps in

pairs, or at most in the family pack, for a short time. after the young are capable of using the wing. It sometimes happens, however, that the rains fail or are later in coming than usual, and at such times the forest supply gives way, and their closest inhabitants are compelled to range abroad for subsistence. This is sometimes the case with the Blue and Yellow Maccaws, and where it is the case, they assemble in flocks, take a lofty flight, and give notice of their approach by the loudness of their scream. They are birds of very powerful wing, and have much command of themselves in the air. Their wings are very pointed, and their tail exceedingly long, stiff, and wedge-shaped. When they alight on their journeys, in order to rest for the night, or for a time, it is always on the tops of the loftiest trees, and they never alight without whirling round and round in the air, as if in order to ascertain whether any danger be near, before they take their repose; and while they are reposing it is generally understood that they have a watch set, which never fails to give timely warning in case of necessity.

Although they may inhabit the same localities with other species of the same genus, it is said that they never mingle with them, but, on the contrary, are at open war with them when they happen to meet, like two hostile marauding companies of troops.

They nestle in the holes of trees, have two hatches in the year, and two young at each hatch.

The colours of this species are remarkably distinct : all the upper parts, from the forehead to the extremity of the tail, including the sides of the head and the upper surface of the wings, are of a bright blue, with

a slight tinge of green; the under parts, from the breast downwards, are of a light orange-yellow; and the throat is of a dusky black, with a faint greenish shade. The blue of the fore part of the head has a more decided tinge of green. The naked cheeks have their white suffused with a slight roseate blush, and are marked by three, or sometimes more, transverse lines of minute blackish feathers. In the female, the colours are still more vivid, and the tail is also somewhat longer in proportion; but the relative size of the bird is a trifle less. The bill, which is remarkably hooked and pointed in the upper mandible, is black; the feet are dusky.

The Parrots, properly so called, and which are sometimes considered the typical group of the family, are distinguished by their comparatively stout and generally even tail. The bill, though very powerful and strong, is more elongated than in the Maccaws, and Cockatoos; the head is large, and the face, with some few exceptions, covered with feathers. The species are found distributed in Asia, Africa, and America, and are all inhabitants of the torrid zone. Many are gregarious, except during the period of incubation. They breed in the hollows of decayed trees, and most of the species are supposed to lay only two white eggs, which are incubated alternately by both sexes. In disposition they are the most docile of the family, and possess the power of imitating the human voice in as great or perhaps greater perfection than any of the other divisions.

Another group of this family contains the Cockatoos, so called from the usual call-note of the species.