PSITTACr. 181 



Subclass FALCONIFORMES. 



The Falconiformes are supposed to be the only birds which com- 

 bine the following characters : — 



Young born helpless, and requiring to be fed by their parents in 

 the nest for many days ; young before acquiring feathers passing 

 through a stage in which they are completely covered with down ; 

 hallux present, and connected with the fiexor hngus hallucis and not 

 with the flexor perforans digitorum; spinal feather-tract well defined 

 on the neck. 



The Subclass Falconiformes contains two Orders, one only of 

 which is represented in Japan. 



Order PSITTACI. 

 The Order Psittaci only contains one Suborder. 



Suborder XIV. PSITTACI. 



The Parrots may be diagnosed as follows : — 



Young born helpless and nearly naked ; feet zygodactyle ; spinal 

 feather-tract well defined on the neck by lateral bare tracts, and 

 forked on the upper back ; oil-gland tufted or absent. 



There are nearly 400 species of Parrots, which are all tropical or 

 subtropical birds, and are distributed over both the Old and the New 

 World. One species ranges into the southern portion of the Nearctic 

 Region, but the suborder is unknown in the Palsearctic Region, 

 including Japan, though a few species approach as near as South 

 China. 



The Parrots must be regarded as a very archaic group of birds, 

 inasmuch as many if not all of them have opisthocoelous dorsal 

 vertebrae. 



