126 



PARROTS. 



upper moiety, red in colour. In the skull the ring round the eye is incomplete. 

 The cere is always narrow, surrounding the whole base of the bill with a band of 

 equal width, and is generally partially feathered ; while the nostrils may be either 

 exposed or concealed. The group ranges over the Oriental, Ethiopian, and 

 Australasian regions. 



The Moluccas and Papuan Islands are the home of a genus of 



parrots of this group, of which the typical red-sided eclectus (Eclectus 



pectoralis) exceeds the green parrot in size ; its total length being from 16 to 18 J 



RED-SIDED ECLECTUS (J nat. size). 



inches. In this genus the bill is thick, notched, and very deep, with its lower 

 mandible marked by a keel along the middle line of the symphysis. The tail 

 is of moderate length and nearly squared, with its central feathers of normal 

 form ; and the nostrils are hidden. In the females the general hue of the plumage 

 is red, while in the males it is green. 



So different are the two sexes of the red-sided eclectus, that it is at first sight 



