THE OSPREY. 



An Illustrated Monthly Magazine Devoted Exclusively to the hiterests of 



ORNITHOLOGY, 



Vol. 1. No. 3. 



GALESBURG, ILL., NOVEMBER, 1896. 



SI. 00 A Year 



SHEEP ATTACKED BY KEAS. 

 From Mounted Group in U. S. National Museui 



The Genus Nestor. 



BY F. H. KN(J\VLTON. PH. D.. SMITHSOXIAX IXSTITUTHJN. 



CCORUIXlr t.) Salva- 

 dori, ^vho has recently 

 in()nogTaphed the gToup 

 there are four hundred 

 and ninety-nine species 

 of Parrots, belong"ing- to 

 seventy-nine g^ e n e r a . 

 now kno^vn. The num- 

 ber has been slig-htly 

 increased since this 

 monog-raph, but remains 

 not far from live hundred. They are 

 found throug-hout the warmer parts of 

 the world, being- most abundant in South 

 America. Among- the great diversities 

 of size, structure and coloration observed 

 in the Parrots, there is perhaps no small 

 g-roup of them that are more interesting-, 

 all thing's considered, than those of the 

 g-enus y^cstor. 



Nestor, it will be remembered, was the 

 oldest of the chieftains who took part in 



in the sieg-e of Troy, and his dignified 

 bearing- and white hairs have since been 

 emblematic of wisdom and experience. 

 This g-roup of Parrots was g-iven the 

 name of Nestor from their grey heads. 

 They are entirely confined to New Zea- 

 land and certain neig-hboring- islands, 

 and they are also the sole representa- 

 tives of a family, the Xcstoridae. As a 

 family they are distinguished by the 

 elong-ated much compressed beak which 

 is long-er than deep, and has a long-itudi- 

 nal g-roove on the upper half. The 

 feathers are soft, those about the base of 

 the lower mandible being- hairy and di- 

 rected forwards, and the feathers of the 

 tail have pointed shafts projecting- be- 

 yond the web. The tip of the tongue is 

 provided with a fringe of long- hairs, and 

 the cere is partially feathered. 



The g-enus ^A>5^^rembraces five species, 

 three of which are now extinct. The 



