Genus — N ORTHIPSITTA. 
North rps itt a Mathews, Austral Avian. Record, Vol. I., 
p. 127, 1912 . . . . . . . . . . . . Type N. alexandrce. 
Spathopterus North Ibis, 1895, p. 339 . . . . . . Tj^pe N . alexandrce. 
Not Spathoptera , Serv. 1835. 
This genus is very closely allied to the preceding, but is remarkable for the 
spatulate elongation of the third primary of the wing of the male, the feather 
which provided the genus. However, the only species has the tail even more 
elongate and the coloration is more subdued. 
There can be no doubt that this is an evolution product from the same 
stock as the preceding, but the different coloration proves that it branched off 
at a comparatively early period and from an examination of the different 
species this must have been isolated in the interior and produced the peculiar 
wing formation coincident with its color change. A peculiar feature of both 
genera is the red tipping of the inner webs of the lateral tail-feathers, which is 
seen in both sexes and is therefore an early color feature. In the genus Polytelis 
this red tipping is retained in the female, being present in the young of both 
sexes, but is lost in the males. 
The genus name proposed by North having proved to be pre-occupied, 
I dedicated the genus to that worker, as he was the first to point out the 
difference in the wing between this and the preceding birds and to claim 
generic distinction for the species. 
270 
