NASITERNA. 159 



usually also the case in the Broad-tails (Platycercinse), to which Nasiterna 

 in other respects presents but little resemblance either in form or in habits, 

 as the Platycercinse are mostly ground-loving birds, whereas Nasiterna is 

 stated to be exclusively arboreal. Although we know nearly nothing of the 

 habits of Nasiterna, there can be no doubt that they are chiefly attached to 

 trees, which is indicated by the peculiar form of the tail-feathers. Whether 

 these are used in the same manner as by the Woodpecker, as a means to 

 sustain the bird in climbing, we do not at present know; but we may 

 suspect that their peculiar structure will subserve a corresponding manner of 

 life. In every case there can be no doubt that Nasiterna forms a most 

 singular generic group, which perhaps it would be more correct to constitute 

 (as Prince Buonaparte already did, and as Dr. Sclater recommends) the 

 type of a distinct subfamily. 



The genus Nasiterna is a characteristic form of the avifauna of 

 New Guinea or the Papuan region, and may be considered the most 

 characteristic among the members of the family Psittacidge peculiar to 

 these countries, as the singular genus Microglossus occurs also on the 

 north point of the Australian continent, where Nasiterna has not yet been 

 found. Since the year 1827 (when Quoy and Gaimard discovered, by a very 

 singular chance, near Havre Doreh, the oldest known species — Nasiterna 

 pygmcea^, a second species (N. pusio), from the Solomon Islands, was 

 described in 1865 by Dr. Sclater; and a few years since the indefatigable 

 Dutch traveller, Baron von Rosenberg, was fortunate enough to discover 

 a third species on Mysore (or Mefoor) and Soek (islands in the north of 

 the extensive Geelvink Bay), which Professor Schlegel, in his peculiar 

 manner, introduced into science as Nasiterna pygmoea geelvinkiana, although 

 he has since admitted the bird as a distinct species. 



The above description is taken from a pair (male and female) collected 

 in April 1873 by Dr. A. B. Meyer at Kordo, a place on the island of Mysore, 

 Geelvink Bay. 



