. Zoology : for students and general readers . Zoology. 550 ZOOLOGY. are the parrots (Psiftaci). The tongue is large, soft, and remarkably mobile, as the muscles at the base are more dis- tinctly developed than in other birds, and the lower larynx is complicated with three pairs of muscles ; hence these birds are wonderful mimickers of the human voice, imi- tating the laughter or crying of babies, and repeating brief sentences, while some sing. In proportion to their capacity for talking, parrots command a very high market price. Their toes are in pairs, the bill is cered and very stout, adapt
. Zoology : for students and general readers . Zoology. 550 ZOOLOGY. are the parrots (Psiftaci). The tongue is large, soft, and remarkably mobile, as the muscles at the base are more dis- tinctly developed than in other birds, and the lower larynx is complicated with three pairs of muscles ; hence these birds are wonderful mimickers of the human voice, imi- tating the laughter or crying of babies, and repeating brief sentences, while some sing. In proportion to their capacity for talking, parrots command a very high market price. Their toes are in pairs, the bill is cered and very stout, adapted for cracking hard nuts. The wish-bone is sometimes rudimentary, a^nd the sternum entire, not notched. Parrots are monogamous, like the hawks, and nest in rocks or hollow trees. Our only parrot is the Carolina parroquet {Conurus Carolinensis Kuhl, Fig. 473), which is common in Florida. It for- merly extended to the Great Lakes and to New York, but is nearly exterminated. About three hundred and fifty species are scattered through tropical countries, Australia and South America being especially favored by these gorgeous birds. The ground parrot of New Zea- land does not fly, all the others being. Fig. 474 —Skull of Ge- cinus viiidu L., tihowing the asymmetrical pOBition of the horus {cor-iiua lin- QUCE) and their extension through the right nasal opening to the end of the cavity covered by the inter- maxillary.—AfterLindahl. good fliers. The PicaricB, group of a somewhat miscella- neous group 01 birds, comprising the woodpeckers, the cuckoos, and allies, and the swifts and humming-birds, con- nect the preceding groups with the Pas- serine or singing birds. From the latter the Picarice com- monly differ in the form of the sternum, in the less developed vocal apparatus, there being no more than three pairs of separate muscles, so that the birds are not musical; as well as in the nature of the toes and wing and tail feathers. The woodpeckers usually have pointed, stiff tail-f
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1879
