198 PSITTACI, PARROTS. 
and the shafts of this color; no nuchal crescent in either sex; g with 
scarlet maxillary patches, wanting in the 9 ; crown lilac-brown ; chin, throat 
and breast ash; sides tinged with creamy-brown, and belly with yellowish. 
Colorado Valley, Lower California, and southward. Bp., 125, and Proc. 
Phila. Acad. 1859, 3023 Exxior, pl. 26; Coor., 410. . . CHRYSOIDES. 
Red-shafted or Mexican Woodpecker. Wings and tail showing orange-red 
underneath, and the shafts of this color; no nuchal crescent in either sex; 
g with scarlet maxillary patches, wanting in the 9 ; crown lilac-brown; 
chin, throat and breast ash; under parts shaded with lilac-brown; no 
yellowish on the belly. Western North America, Sitka to Mexico. Aup., 
iv, 290, pl. 274; Nurt., ii, 603; Bp., 120; Coop., 408. . MEXICANUs. 
Ozs. It will be noted, how curiously these species are distinguished mainly by 
a different combination of common characters.— Colaptes ayresii of Aup., vii, 348, 
pl. 494; C. hybridus of Barrp, 122, is a form from the Missouri region in which the 
characters of mexicanus and auratus are blended in every conceivable degree in 
different specimens. Perhaps it is a hybrid, and perhaps it is a transitional form. 
According to Mr. Allen, Florida specimens of awratus sometimes show red touches 
in the black maxillary patch, as is frequently the case with Kansas examples. 
Order PSITTACI. Parrots. 
Feet permanently zygodactyle by reversion of the fourth toe; bill short, 
extremely stout, strongly epignathous, and furnished with a (frequently feathered) 
cere, as in the birds of prey; wings and tail variable. The parrots, including the 
macaws, cockatoos, lories, etc., form one of the most strongly marked groups of 
birds, as easily recognizable by their peculiar external appearance as defined by the 
technical points of structure. They were formerly included in an order Scansores 
on account of the paired toes, but this is a comparatively trivial circumstance ; they 
have no special affinity with other zygodactyle birds, and their peculiarities entitle 
them to rank with groups called orders in the present volume. They might not 
inaptly be styled frugivorous Raptores ; and in some respects they exhibit a vague 
analogy to the quadrumana (monkeys) among mammals. The upper mandible is 
much more freely movable than is usual in birds, being articulated instead of 
suturally joined with the forehead; and the bill is commonly used in climbing. 
The bony orbits of the eyes are frequently completed by union of the lachrymal 
bones with postorbital processes. The symphysis of the lower jaw is short and 
obtuse. The sternum is entire or simply fenestrated posteriorly ; the furculum is 
weak, sometimes defective, or wanting. The principal metatarsal bone is short and 
broad, and its lower extremity is modified to suit the position of the fourth toe. 
The lower larynx is peculiarly constructed, with three pairs of muscles. The 
plumage shows aftershafts ; the oil gland is often wanting. 
‘Parrots abound in all tropical countries, but, except in Australia and New 
Zealand, rarely extend into the temperate zone. The Indian and A®thiopian 
regions are poor in parrots, while the Australian is the richest, containing many 
genera and even whole families peculiar to it” (Newron). The highest authority, 
Finscu, recognizes 354 species as well-determined, distributing them in 26 genera; 
142 are American, 23 African, and 18 Asiatic; the Moluccas and New Guinea have 
83, Australia 59, and Polynesia 29. Ornithologists are now nearly agreed to divide 
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