Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/198

Rh This beautiful species was considered, when Mr. Gould published his magnificent monograph of the Rhamphastidæ, as very rare; though it was seen alive by Edwards in the last century. Within a few years, however, several living individuals of this species have been brought to this country, most of which are in the noble menagerie of the Earl of Derby at Knowsley.

In their general form, the structure of their beak, the cere that encloses its base, their thick and fleshy tongue, the arrangement and form of their toes, the scales with which their feet are clothed, many details of their internal anatomy, combined with their remarkable habits, and their great intelligence and docility,—the Parrots differ very widely from the Families with which they are usually associated, and form a group compact and well-defined among themselves, but isolated in a remarkable degree from all others. Many Naturalists of eminence, indeed, do not hesitate to assign to the Parrots the rank of an Order, commencing the series with them, thus making them precede the Birds of Prey, as the Quadrumana, which they are supposed to represent, are put before the Carnivora. "If we except," says Mr. Blyth, "the trivial character of their outer toe being reversed,—and their foot, even, is in all other respects extremely different, and covered with small tubercle-like scales, instead of plates as in all the