PSITTACID^ — THE PARROTS. ,585 



Family PSITTACID-5]. — The Pariiots. 



Char. Bill greatly hooked ; the maxilla movable and with a cefc at the base. NostriLs 

 ill the base of the bill. Feet seansorial, covered with granulated scales. 



The above diaguosis characterizes lirieHy a family of tlie Zygoductiili having 

 reiiruseutatives throughout tlie greater part of the world, except Europe, and 

 eiidjracing about three hundred and fifty species, according to the late 

 enumeration of Finsch,' of which one hundred and forty-two, or nearly one 

 half, are American (seventy Brazilian alone). The subfamilies are as 

 follows : — 



I. Stringopinae. Appearance owl-like; face somewhat veiled or with a 



iaii;il disk, as in the Owls. 



II. PlyctolophiiiEe. Head with an erectile crest, of variable shape. 



III. Sittacinae. Head plain. Tail long, or lengthened, wedge-shaped or 

 graduated. 



IV. Psittacinse. Head plain. Tail short or moderate, straight or rounded. 



V. TrichoglossincE. Tip of tongue papillose. Bill compressed ; tip of 



ma-xilla internally smooth, not orenate ; gonys obUquely ascending. 



Of these, Nos. Ill and IV alone are represented in the New World, and 

 only the Sittacina; occur in the United States, with one species. 



Subfamily SITTACIN.E. 



The lengthened cuneate tail, as already stated, distinguishes this group 

 from the American PsittKr/mcc with short, square, or rounded tail. The 

 genera are distinguished as follows : — 



Sittace. Culmen flattened. Face naked, except in S. jMcJujrhijnrha. Tail 

 as long as or longer than wings. 



Conurus. Culmen rounded. Face entirely feathered, except a curve around 

 tlic e3-e. Tail shorter than wings. 



Of the genus Sittace, which embraces eighteen species, two come sufficiently 

 near to the southern borders of the United States to render it not impossible 

 that they may yet be found to cross the border. Of one of these, indeed, 

 {S. jKichyrhjncha,) there is a specimen in the Museum of the Philadelphia 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, presented by J. W. Audubon as shot on the 

 Eio Grande of Texas ; and another {S. milifaris) is common at Mazatlan, and 

 ]ierhaps even at Guaymas. There is considerable reason for doubt as to the 

 authenticity of the alleged locality of the S. pachyrhijm-Ii<i, but for the 



' Die Papageien. Monographisch bearbeitet von Otto Fiuscli. 2 vols. Leiden, 1867, 1868. 

 VOL. II. 74 



