File:The royal natural history (1893) (14598124109).jpg

Identifier: royalnaturalhist47lyde (find matches)
Title: The royal natural history
Year: 1893 (1890s)
Authors: Lydekker, Richard, 1849-1915 Sclater, Philip Lutley, 1829-1913 Frostick, W. B., former owner. DSI Brooks, W. T., former owner. DSI
Subjects: Zoology Natural history
Publisher: London and New York : Frederick Warne & Co.
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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their greatestnumerical development. All the parrots make their nests in the hollows of trees, where they usuallylay from two to three white eggs, although in the case of some of tlie smaller speciesthe number is often considerably more. Frequently the males take their share inthe work of incubation, which generally lasts for about twenty-one days. Theyoung parrots are fed by the parents disgorging half-digested food from their owncrops into their open mouths, after the manner of pigeons. The food of the adultconsists in most cases of various fruits and nuts. Regarding their general habits,and the important part these birds play in tropical scenery, Mr. Wallace writesas follows : They usually feed in flocks ; they are noisy, and so attract attention;they love gardens, orchards, and open sunny places; they wander about far insearch of food, and towards sunset return homewards in noisy flocks or in constantpairs. Their forms and motions are often beautiful and attractive. The immensely
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KAKA PARROTS, NESTORS. 93 long tails of the macaws, and the more slender tails of the Indian parraquets; thefine crests of the cockatoos ; the swift flight of many of the smaller species, and thegraceful motions of the little love-birds and allied forms; together with their aftec-tionate natures, aptitude for domestication, and powers of mimicry, combine torender them at once the most conspicuous and the most attractive of all the speciallytropical forms of bird-life. As is so generally the case with arboreal fruit-eating birds, the prevalentcolour among the parrots is green. This is, however, frequently relieved by patches,bands, or spots or other hues; while in certain groups or species it is replaced byblue, yellow, cinnamon, crimson, white, and occasionally black. Judging from thecharacters of the skeleton, it appears to us that the nearest allies of the parrotsare the owls. They may, however, have some kinship with the diurnal birds ofprey, and possibly with some of the Picarians

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