198 PSITTACI, PARROTS. 



and the shafts of this color ; no nuchal crescent in either sex ; $ with 

 scarlet maxillary patches, wanting in the 9 ; crown lilac-l)rown ; chin, throat 

 and breast ash ; sides tinged with creamy-brown, and belly with yellowish. 

 Colorado Valley, Lower California, and southward. Bd., 125, and Proc. 

 Phila. Acad. 1859, 302; Elliot, jjI. 26; Coop., 410. . . chrysoides. 

 % \" Red-shafted or Mexican Woodpecher. Wings and tail showing orange-red 

 imderneath, and the shafts of this color ; no nuchal crescent in either sex ; 

 ^ with scarlet maxillary patches, wanting in the 9 ; crown lilac-brown ; 

 chin, throat and breast ash; under parts shaded with lilac-brown; no 

 jrellowish on the belly. Western North America, Sitka to Mexico. Aud., 

 iv, 290, pi. 274; Nutt., ii, 603; Bd., 120; Coop., 408. . mexicanus. 



Obs. It will be noted, how cariously these species are distinguished mainly by 

 a ditterent combination of common characters. — Colaptes ayresii of Aud., vii, 348, 

 pi. 404 ; C. hybridus of Baird, 122, is a form from the Missouri region in which the 

 characters of mexicanus aud nuratus are blended in every conceivable degree in 

 different specimens. Perhaps it is a hybrid, and perhaps it is a transitional form. 

 According to Mr. Allen, Florida specimens of anratus sometimes show red touches 

 in the black maxillary patch, as is frequently the case with Kansas examples. 



Order PSITTACI. Parrots, 



Feet permanently zj'godactyle by reversion of the fourth toe ; bill short, 

 extremely stout, strougly epignathous, and furnished with a (frequently feathered) 

 cere, as in the birds of prey ; wings and tail variable. The parrots, including the 

 macaws, cockatoos, lories, etc., form one of the most strongly marked groups of 

 birds, as easily recognizable by their peculiar external appearance as defined by the 

 technical points of structure. Thej^ were formerly included in an order Scansores 

 on account of the paired toes, but this is a comparatively trivial circumstance ; they 

 have no special affinity with other zygodactyle birds, and their peculiarities entitle 

 them to rank with groups called orders in the present volume. They might not 

 inaptly be styled fntglvorons Raptores ; and in some respects they exhibit a vague 

 analogy to the quadrumana (monkeys) among mammals. The upper mandible is 

 much more freely movable than is usual in birds, being articulated instead of 

 suturally joined witli the forehead ; and the bill is commonly used in climbing. 

 The bonj' orbits of the eyes are frequently completed b}- union of the lachrj'mal 

 bones witli postorbital processes. The sj'mphj'sis of the lower jaw is short and 

 obtuse. The sternum is entire or simply fenestrated posteriorly ; the furculum is 

 weak, sometimes defective, or wanting. The principal metatarsal bone is short and 

 broad, and its lower extremity is modiflod to suit the position of the fourth toe. 

 The lower larynx is peculiarly constructed, with three pairs of muscles. The 

 plumage shows aftershafts ; the oil gland is often wanting. 



" Parrots abound in all tropical countries, but, except in Australia and New 

 Zealand, rarelj^ extend into the temperate zone. The Indian and ^Ethiopian 

 regions are poor in parrots, wliile the Australian is the richest, containing manj'' 

 genera and even whole families peculiar to it" (Newton). The highest authority, 

 FiNscii, recognizes .354 species as well-determined, distributing them in 26 genera ; 

 142 are American, 23 African, and 18 Asiatic ; 'the Moluccas and New Guinea have 

 83, Australia 59, and Polynesia 29. Ornithologists are now nearly agreed to divide 



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