PSITTACUS, the parrot, in natural his tory, a genus of birds of the order Pica. Generic character : bill hooked, upper mandible moveable ; nostrils round in the base of the bill, and sometimes covered with a cere ; tongue fleshy, broad, and blunt at the end ; head large, crown flat : toes formed for climbing. These abound within the tropics, and live on seeds and fruits in their natural state, but in confine ment will eat both flesh and fish. They of ten appear in flocks, yet are in such cases generally somewhat separated into pairs. They are noisy, mimetic, singularly ca pable of articulating human sounds, ex tremely docile, and long lived- They breed in the hollows of trees, without con structing any nest, and use their feet as hands to convey food to their mouths.— Latham notices one hundred and thirty three species, and Gmelin no fewer than one hundred and sixty-nine. The gene ral division is regulated by the evenness or unevenness of the tails. The follow ing are the principal species.
P. macao, or the red mid blue maccaw, is as large as a capon, and inhabits South America. With its bill it breaks a peach stone with the most perfect ease. These birds lay their eggs in decayed trees, and often enlarge the hollow for this purpose with their bills. They are used for food in vast numbers in Cayenne. They are, in common with many species, exposed to fits when confined.
P. rufirostris, or the long-tailed green parrakeet, is of the size of a blackbird, extremely clamorous, and highly imita. tive. These birds are seen in large flocks, and alighting on certain trees, can with difficulty be distinguished, in consequence of the similar colour of their plumage to that of the leaves. They inhabit various parts of America, are used for food, and are extremely fat. The above have tails unevt n at the end.
P. Meluccensis, or the Molucca cocka too, inhabits the Moluccas, is about fifteen inches long, and is regarded by Buffon as i one of the most docile and interesting birds of the tribe.
P. pullarius, or the red-headed Guinea parrakeet, is of the size of a lark, and is extremely common in many parts of Afri ca. These birds are peculiarly distin guished by their mutual affection. They are exported from Africa in considerable numbers, for their beauty and attachment, and not on account of any power of arti culation or enchantment of melody, their sounds being harsh and grating. Few, however, survive the voyage. They are kept in cages, in pairs, and the attentions of the male to the female are highly ten der, elegant, and interesting. Ile extri cates the seeds from their husks, and pre sents them to her in this prepared state, and appears restless and miserable on the slightest separation. Indeed, the attach ment is reciprocal, the sadness of one al ways producing distress in the other ; and the death of either involving the survivor, generally, in fatal as well as fruitless grief.
P. Carolinensis, the Carolina parrot, is about thirteen inches long, yellowish green, head and fore part of the neck yel low ; front, cheeks, and edge of the shoul ders rufous ; bill and orbits whitish ; feet pale flesh colour, claws black ; greater wing-coverts and primaries yellow, with a tinge of green ; shafts of most of the feathers black. Tail long, cuneitbrm ; knees and vent fulvous. Inhabits the southern parts of the United States, as far north as Maryland, but on the rivers Mississippi and Ohio, it is of frequent oc currence much farther north wardly. It is the only species found in the United States.