04 HISTORY OF THE PARROTS. 



such farther observations as may be required upon 

 the subfamilies and genera as they occur. 



We shall commence with the subfamily of the 

 MacrocercincB or Maccaws, which, in its own fa- 

 mily, is analogous to the dentirostral tribe of the In- 

 sessores, and represents the subtypical group of the 

 Psittacidce. By Mr Vigors, in the view he lias taken 

 of the distribution of the Parrots, this subfamily is 

 restricted to the Maccaws properly so called, a group 

 arranging itself under one, or at most, two generic 

 types, the other American long-tailed Parrots, as well 

 as those belonging to the ancient world, being all 

 included in another division to which he gave the 

 name of Palceornina. To this distribution there are 

 strong and manifold objections, uniting as it does 

 in one great group, birds differing essentially in 

 structure as well as habit, such as the Lories and 

 other nectivorous Parrots, and those various ge- 

 nera which compose the Platycercine subfamily, 

 which depart so far from the true scansorial -spe- 

 cies in their character and general habits. It is 

 on this account, and as being more in accordance 

 with the natural affinities of the race, that we have 

 adopted the suggestions of Mr Swainson, in regard 

 to the primary divisions of this family, though we 

 must add, that much additional information is re- 

 quired to work out the details, and that there are 

 many species whose exact station remains doubtful, 

 and which further analysis and observation can alone 



