OX THE PARROTS OF THE GEXUS ECLECTUS. 19 



6. RECENT OBSERVATIONS ON THE . 

 PARROTS OF THE GENUS ECLECTUS* 



THE large red and green Parrots forming the genus Edectus of Wagler 

 have long been well known to naturalists, who have, until recently, enter- 

 tained no sort of doubt that the red species were perfectly distinct from 

 the green ones. So much was this the case, that a subgenus, denominated 

 Polychlorus in 1857 by Sclaterf, has been formed for the reception of 

 the green species, the red ones being retained under Edectus proper. ^' 275 

 Dr. Finsch, whose excellent work, * Die Papageien,' must be regarded as 

 our " Standpunkt " in all matters concerning Parrots, recognizes (I. c. 

 vol. ii. p. 332) seven species of the genus (as restricted by Wagler), and 

 gives the following table of them : 



a. Green Eclecti. 



1. polychlorus, Scop. Under wing-coverts and sides red. Wing 10" 5'". 



2. intermedius, Bp. Like the last, but green darker and size smaller. 



Wing 8" 9"'. 



3. westermanni, Bp. Like the last, but without red on sides. 



b. Red Eclecti. 



4. grandis, Gm. Band over the upper back and the under surface 



violet-blue ; tail-feathers and under tail-coverts }^ellow. Wing 10'' 

 3'". 



5. cardinalis, Bodd. Like the last, but darker red ; under tail-coverts 



orange-red. Wing 8" 5'". 



6. linnwi, Wagl. Like the last, but with a narrow blue ring round the 



eye ; under tail-coverts red. 



7. cornelice, Bp. Without any blue at all. 



The distribution of the species (as given by Finsch) is represented in 

 the following table, the habitat of two species (E. westermanni and E. 

 cornelice), both originally described by Bonaparte from specimens living 

 in the " Natura-Artis-Magistra " Gardens at Amsterdam, being still 

 unknown. 



* Ibis, 1877, pp. 274-283. 

 t P.Z.S. 1857, p. 226. 



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