PSITTACID.E — THE TARROTS. 'jSo 



Family PSITTACIDJE. — The PARRnT?;. 



Char. Bill frroatly hooked ; the maxilla movable and with a cere at the base. Nostrils 

 in the base of the bill. Feet scansorial, covered with grannlated scales. 



The above diagnosis characterizes hrietlya family of the Zi/;io<J((ctjfJi havini^ 

 representatives throughout the greater part of the workl, except Europe, and 

 embracing about three hundred and fifty 'npecies, according to the hite 

 enumeration of Finsch,^ of which one hundred and forty-two, or nearly one 

 half, are American (seventy Brazilian alone). The subfamilies are as 

 follows : — 



I. Stringopinae. Appearance owl-like; face somewhat veiled or with a 



facial disk, as in the Owls. 



II. Plyctolophinae. Head with an erectile crest, of variable shape. 



III. Sittacinae. Head plain. Tail long, or lengthened,' wedge-shaped or 

 graduated. 



lY. Fsittacinae. Head plain. Tail short or moderate, straight or rounded. 



V. TrichogloBBinae. Tip of tongue papillose. Bill compressed ; tip of 



maxilla internally smooth, not crenate ; gbnys obliquely ascending. 



Of these, Nos. Ill and IV alone are represented in the Xew World, and 

 only the Sittacincv occur in the United States, with one species. 



Subfamily SITTACINJE. 



The lengtliened cuneate tail, as already stated, distinguishes this group 

 from the American Psittaeinw with short, square, or rounded tail. The 

 genera are distinguished as follows : — 



Sittace. Culmen flattened. Face naked, except in ^S^. pachnrhynclia. Tail 

 as loni; as or longer than wimrs. 



Conunis. Culmen rounded. Face entirely feathered, except a curve around 

 the eye. Tail shorter than wings. 



Of the genus Sittace, which embraces eighteen species, two come sutficiently 

 near to the southern borders of the United States to render it not impossible 

 that they may yet be found to cross the border. Of one of these, indeed, 

 (S. pachyrlujncha,) tliere is a specimen in the ]\Iuseum of the Philadelphia 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, presented by J. W. Audiil)on as shot on the 

 Kio Grande of Texas ; and another {S. militnris) is common at Mazatlan, and 

 perhaps even at Guaymas. There is considerable reason for doubt as to the 

 authenticity of the alleged locality of the S. pacliyrhyncha, but for the 



^ Die Papageien. Monographisch bearbeitet von Otto Finsch. 2 vols. Leideu, 1SG7, 1868. 

 VOL. II. 74 



