On the Grand Vusa of M, Le Vaillant, S43 



that they form a distinct section among them in consequence ofi 

 the length of their tail. It is also to be noticed that he places 

 them immediately after the Perruche a large queue^ (Platycercus, 

 Jlaviventris)) to \yhich species they bear a close affinity, as wili 

 subsequently appear. It is due to the late M, Kuhl to state that 

 he first ranked these birds in their natural station. That gentle- 

 man, who, evei^ in his slight sketch of the Parrots^ had given a 

 sufficient promise of his future reputation as a naturalist to cause 

 us deeply to lament his premature loss to science, withdrew 

 the two species from their doubtful station, and placed them ac- 

 cording to their decided affinities among the Perruches a large 

 queue. 



A single glance at the living bird now in our possession at once 

 confirms the justice of this arrangement. Its light and active 

 movements originating from superiour powers of foot and tarsi, 

 totally distinct from the embarrassed gait and feebleness of limb 

 that characterize the typical Parrots, immediately call to mind 

 the Ground Parrakeets of New Holland. It has been the subject 

 of general observation among the visitors of the Zoological Mu- 

 seum, how much it resembles in these particulars many of those 

 Australian species which have of late become familiar to us in 

 their living state ; such as the King's, the Rose Hill, the Pew- 

 nantian, and the Macquarrie Parrakeets.^ Upon a minute ex- 

 amination also of its characters, it is found to accord exactly with 

 these birds and the whole of the group of Platycercus lately cha- 

 racterized as belonging to Australia; having the broad culmen 

 to the bill, the short and rounded wing, and the comparatively 

 lengthened tarsi that distinguish that genus. From its geographical 

 position it forms an important addition to the group, which is thus 

 found to extend from some of the remoter Australian Islands to 

 those Islands which border upon Africa. The immediate affinity 

 of the bird is with the piat. scapulatus (King^s Parrakeet), which 

 it resembles in the nearly even tail. And here it may be observed 

 that those species of the group which inhabit the remoter islands, 

 such as Plat. Pacijicus, (Macquarrie Parrakeet), and its co»- 

 geners, have their tails strongly graduated ; some species again of 



* Plat, scapulatusy eximius, Pennantii, and Pacificus. 



Q 2 



