( 575 ) 
OSTEOLOGY OF PALAEOENIS, WITH OTHER NOTES ON 
THE GENIJS. 
By R. W. Shufeldt. 
(Communicated by L. Puringuey.) 
(Read June 16, 1915.) 
(Plates XXXIX-XLI.) 
One of the most abundant parrots of India is Palaeornis torquatus, or 
the Ring-parrot, so named for the reason that in the adult a ring or collar 
forms a part of the plumage of the neck. It is a species long known to 
many in the Indian Empire, where it is represented as the vahana or 
" vehicle " of Kama, one of the gods of the Hindus. Kama corresponds to 
our Cupid, or rather the classic Eros, symbolising Love. These birds — for 
there are several species of them — were supposed to be known to the G-reeks 
and Romans ; but they were not considered as a sub-family of parrots until 
so founded by Vigors in 1825, who named the Palaeovnithinae to contain 
them. 
Linnaeus described one species, naming it Palaeornis alexandri, believing 
it to be the bird that was referred to by Onesicritus, one of the historians 
of Alexander the Great. 
They are generally gregarious in habit, and Palaeornis torquatus, the 
species mentioned above, is often found in flocks numbering several thousands. 
There are about twenty-five species of these parrots, and they occur 
principally m the Orient, though others inhabit Africa. They are noisy 
birds, with harsh notes given with great vehemence. Many like them as 
pets, and occasionally one may be taught to say a few words, while as a 
rule they are gentle and tractable. Palaeornis exul, A. Newton, is supposed 
to be extinct ; it formerly inhabited the Island of Rodriguez. The African 
species is Palaeornis docilis, and it is found in Sudan, Equatorial Africa, 
and in Abyssinia. 
Garrod, the British ornithotomist, examined a number of species of the 
Palaeornitliidae, and found that in them the amhiens muscle was absent, 
and that there were two carotids, except in the genus Cacatua. 
Garrod worked out the main stem of the Psittaci, and stated that " Each 
of the two secondary branches persists as the Palaeornitlmiae and the 
