The Macaws—the largest of the Parrots—are recognized by their bare cheeks and long tapering tails. They inhabit South America and are arrayed in the most brilliant colors. The principal species are the Ara or Blue and Yellow Macaw.
The Parrakeets are much smaller than the Macaws, and like them, have long tapering tails, but their cheeks are feathered. What are known as the “Love-birds” are the rarest and smallest of this group. They make their home in America and Southern Africa.
What are known as the “Parrots proper” are distinguished from other groups of the same family by their short, square tails. They have feathered cheeks like the Parrakeets, and are between these and the Macaws in size. They are appreciated on account of their memory and their habit of repeating what they hear without any special teaching. These Parrots are divided into several groups, and species according to their size and color. Among them we find the Grey Parrot or Jaco, a native of the West coast of Africa, the Festive Green Parrot, and the Amazonian Parrot, which is remarkable for its power of imitating, and the richness of its green plumage.
THE COCKATOOS.
COCKATOOS.
These Birds are very handsome members of the Parrot family, especially the ones that are crowned with very full tufts of feathers about the head. Some have the head entirely surmounted by a white, yellow or pink tuft, which they can raise or lower at will. Their tails are short, and their cheeks feathered. They are the largest among the race of Parrots of the old continent. They inhabit the Indies; and, although they are pretty, graceful, and very docile and caressing when tamed, they do not talk so well as some of the other Parrots.
There is one remarkable species of the Cockatoos, sometimes called the Trumpet Cockatoo, because of the formation of the tongue. This is cylindrical and terminated by a little gland slightly hollowed at the end. In eating, this Bird takes the kernels of the fruits which form its food, crushes them by the help of its jaws, then seizes the food by means of the hollow which terminates the tongue, projects the trumpet in front, and makes it pass to the palate which causes it to fall into the throat. As this peculiarity of the trumpet-like tongue has never been noticed in any other Bird, it has made this species quite as noted as the Great White Cockatoo, and Leadbeater’s Cockatoo, which have long been known as the handsomest species of this family.
THE CUCKOOS.
The Cuckoos are about the size of a Turtle Dove. They have beaks about as long as the head, slightly curved and compressed, and rather long and rounded tails, and long pointed wings. There are several kinds of Birds belonging to this group, some of which differ from the Cuckoos proper, in having short wings and long tapering tails. Among these are found the Trogons, Honey-guides, Anis or Annos, Barbets and the Touracos or Plantain-eaters. These different species belong to all the countries of the old continent.