ON THE ANATOMY OF THE PARROTS. 259 
Family I. Family TH. 
Cacatuine. Psittacine (in part). 
Platycercine (in part). Nestorine. 
Psittacine (in part). 
The generally received families Platycercine and Psittacine are 
avowedly rather incongruous mixtures. Mr. Gould, with acute per- 
ception, was able to differentiate Aprosmictus from Platycercus, chiefly 
by its habits of life; and anatomical considerations show that 
Dr. Finsch’s attempt to reabsorb it in the older genus is a retrograde 
step. If Dr. Meyer is right in stating that the sexes in Hclectus are 
of different colours, its relations to Aprosmictus may be very intimate. — 
Tt may at first sight seem very heretical to remove Lathamus from 
the Loriinz, the brush-tongue being considered characteristic of that 
subfamily. To the unbiased student, however, the brush-tongue is a 
character not more important than several of those that have been 
above considered. It is only an excessive development of the papille 
which are always present on the lingual surface, and is seen in a 
slightly different form in the Lion and other Felidw. The character of 
the papille is somewhat different in Lathamus from what it is in 
Lorius, they being blunter and shorter in the former genus than in 
the latter. 
The totally different geographical distribution of Paleornis and the 
true Arinz is quite opposed to Dr. Finsch’s proposition that Conurus 
and Brotogerys should be the neighbours of the Paleogzean genus. 
Brotogerys entirely agrees in structure with Chrysotis and Pionus, 
differing greatly from Conurus; whilst in itself Conurus, as gene- 
rally received, embodies the red-tailed species, with the fourth 
primary not acuminate, and the green-tailed species, with an accumi- 
nate fourth primary. In the former section (Pyrrhura) the ambiens 
muscle is quite lost, whilst in the latter (Conurus) it is always well 
developed. : 
Prof. Huxley is not the only naturalist who has been puzzled by 
the geographical distribution of Psittacula. This genus in its wide 
sense, however, is broken up into far separated genera—the Old- 
World Psittinus and Agapornis differing entirely from the New-World 
Psittacula, Agapornis being the homologue, as it may be termed, in 
the normal-carotid Parrots of Psittacula in the other group, whilst 
Psittinus is a less differentiated genus of the former division. ~ 
Nestor no doubt stands rather isolated ; but possessing the ambiens 
muscle, as well as all the other characters of Psittacus and the true 
Arinz, it must be classed with them. 
My subfamily Pyrrhurine seems a mixture; and all I can say in 
its favour is that the combination of anatomical characters is exactly Page 598. 
the same in all its genera, which have a very scattered distribution. 
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