PSITTACID.E — THE PARROTS. r)85 



Family PSITTACIDiE. — The TARnoTs. 



Char. Bill frroatly lujokLMJ ; tlio maxilla movable and wiih a core at tlio baso. Nostrils 

 in the liase of tlie bill. Feet scansorial, covered with granulated scales. 



The above diagnosis chamcterizes bvieily a family of tlie Zi/i/od(irt>/!l having 

 representatives throughout the greater part of tlie world, except Europe, and 

 embracing about three hundred and fifty r-pecies, according to the late 

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

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

 follows : — 



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



facial disk, as in the Owls. 



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



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

 graduated. 



IV. Psittacinse. Head plain. Tail short or moderate, straight or rounded. 



V. TrichoglosBinae. Tip of tongue pai>illose. Bill compressed ; tip of 



ma.xilla internally smooth, not crenato ; g'onys obliquely ascending. 



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

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



Subfamily SITTACINiB. 



The lengthened cunente tail, as already stated, distinguishes this group 

 from the American Psi/taninw with short, square, or rounded tail. The 

 genera are distinguished as follows : — 



Sittace. Culmen flattened. Face naked, except in 51 pacliyrhynchn. Tail 

 as long as or longer than wings. 



ConuruB. Culmen rounde<l. Face entirely feathereci, except a curve around 

 the eye. Tail shorter than wings. 



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

 nefir 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, 

 (»Si. 2Mchi/rJii/nchn,) tliere is a specimen in the Museum of the riiiladelphia 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, prjsented by J. W. Audulmn as shot on the 

 Kio Grande of Texas ; and another (.S'. militiiri.'<) is common at ^lazatlnn, and 

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

 authenticity of the alleged locality of the S. j}achi/rhi/ncli((, but for the 



' Die Papageien. Monographiseh benrbeitet von Otto Finsoh. 2 vols. Ticidcn, 1807, 1808. 

 VOL. II. 74 



