PSITTACIDiE. 



101 



consists principally of fruits : they incubate in the 

 trunks of trees, and lay but few eggs, usually two : 

 they are of brilliant plumage, in which various tints 

 of red and green are chiefly predominant. They are 

 natives of the southern hemisphere of the globe, few 

 being found far south of the equator, and none be- 

 yond the Tropic of Cancer. In climbing they are 

 greatly assisted by their beaks. Some of the species 

 reside on the ground, and others procure their food 

 from the nectaries of flowers, a fact discovered in a 

 New Holland group, which forms an interesting link 

 in the series of affinities* 



STIRPS I.— PSITTACINA, Vigors. 

 CCV.— PSITTACUS Auctorum. PARROT. 



GENUS 



Rostrum validum, aduncum. 



Facies plumata. 



Caput magnum ; crista nulla. 



Corpus crassum. 



Cauda brevis, quadrata. 



Beal<: stout, hooked. 



Face clothed with feathers. 



Head large ; no crest. 



Body thick. 



Tail short, quadrate. 



There are apparently several species of true Par- 

 rots described and figured in the valuable work of 

 M. Spix on the new birds discovered in Brazil during 

 the travels of Prince Maximilian, but the very limited 

 examination I have been enabled to make of its con- 

 tents has compelled me to omit them. 



Sp. 1. Ps. melanocephalus. Shaw, v. vii. p. 542. — Mexico. 

 Sp. 2. Ps. leucogaster. llliger. — Nova Act. Acad. Nat. Cur. 

 {Kuhl.) V. X. p. 70' 



