198 



Family III. PLOCEIDiE. 



Key to the Sahfamilies. 



A. AVith the first primary very small and 



falcate, attenuated towards "the end ; this 

 first primary never reaching beytmd the 

 primary-coverts, and generally falhng 

 conspicuously short of the latter 1. 



B. "SVith tlie first primary large, generally 



obtuse at the end, and extending beyond 

 the primary-coverts '1. 



VIDUIN^,^. 198. 



PLOCEINuE, p. 405. 



Subfamily I. VIDUIN^. 



Key to the Genera *. 



Tail longer than wing, exceeding the latter 



by more than the length of the tarsus. 

 (I . Only the centre tail-feathers elongated. 

 a". Four centre tail-feathers lengthened 



throughout, not -wire-shafted, not 



widened at the ends 1. A'idua, p. 203. 



h". Four centre feathers with wire-like 



shafts, ending in a broadened elon- 

 gate spatula 2. Tetr^nuea, p. 209. 



c". All four centre tail-feathers attenu- 

 ated and shaft-like for their entire 



length 3. Linuba, p. 210. 



d". Four centre tail-feathers laterally 



flattened, gradually tapering towards 



the ends, which finish in a hair-like 



point 4. Steganuha, p. 211. 



h' . All the tail-feathers elongated. 



e". Tail more than three times the length 



of the wing ; all the tail-feathers 



tapering to a point 5. Cheea, p. 213. 



f". Tail not three times the length of the 



wing ; all the tail-feathers obtuse at 



the ends 6. Penthethia, p. 215. 



c'. Tail graduate and rounded ; a yellow [p. 220. 



mantle-patch 7. Pentheteiopsis, 



* In some respects the present ' Key ' is an artificial one, and I have slightly 

 altered the arrangement of some of the genera in the detailed sequence of the i 

 Vidumff, by placing Chlorura near to Erythrura, Pyromelana and Urobrachya 

 close to I'cnthetria, &e. 



There are some species which are knoTvn to me from single specimens only, 

 and these not even perfect ones, so that I ba\e had the greatest difficulty in 

 locating them, such as Nunia iristissima of Wallace, J'yfcUa ca»!Vf/)5of Eeiche- 

 Jiow, &e. 



