THE ALEXANDRINE PAKRAKEET. 93 



which it assumes in the httle Parrakeets, the Psitta- 

 culee of Brisson and Kuhl, and the elono;ated form, 

 with the two middle feathers still more remarkably 

 lengthened, by which the bird illustrated in the present 

 article and its congeners are distinguished. Other 

 accessory characters are also obtained from the total 

 or partial nakedness of the cheeks in some cases, and 

 the presence of a crest in others. Many of the groups 

 thus established are so striking as to have been indi- 

 cated by trivial names in the languages of all the 

 countries in which these birds are known. 



In Mr. Vigors's arrangement of the Parrots, the 

 group to which all the species known to the ancients 

 appear to have belonged, and to which he has there- 

 fore assigned the name of Pala^ornis, is regarded as 

 " nearly typical, if not entirely so, in that primary 

 section, or subfamily, which is familiarly known to us 

 by the title of Long-tailed Parrakeets." It is charac- 

 terized by a bill of moderate thickness, much dilated 

 and rounded above, with the lower mandible broad, 

 short, and notched ; wings of middling size, the three 

 outermost pen-feathers nearly equal and longer than 

 the rest, with the outer webs of the second, third, and 

 fourth gradually dilated in the middle and narrowing 

 towards the tips ; the tail long and graduated, the two 

 middle feathers far exceeding the others in length ; the 

 legs short and weak ; and the claws rather slender and 

 curved. The birds thus distinguished are the most 

 elegant in form and the most graceful in their attitudes 

 of the entire family to which they belong. They are 

 also strongly marked by the pecidiarity of their colour- 

 ing, their bodies being uniformly of a brilliant emerald, 

 their bills of a deep ruby, and their necks half encircled 

 by a rose-coloured collar. Their native country is India, 

 from whence the present species was originally brought 



