He felt fresh and buoyant. When he was young, and had taken a siesta, he had felt livery for a couple of hours afterwards, with a tongue like a chicken run

He's taken his lumps over the years.

The cere is the fleshy spot just above the beak where the nostrils, or nares, are located. In some species, like the parakeet, the cere is prominent; in others, the cere is covered by feathers. Both the cere and the nares should be clean […]

Now all that, in its mingy way, is logical enough.