Genus — P SEPHOTUS. 
Psephotus Gould, Birds Austr., pt. xix. (Vol. V., 
pi. 36), 1845 . . . . . . . . . . Type P. hmnatonotus. 
Small Platycercine birds with small bills, long wings, very long wedge-tails, 
and small delicate feet. 
The bill is small, broad, with the tip spatulate not sharply hooked : 
the edges of the upper mandible sinuate but no distinct notch. The lower 
mandible is broad and the edges sinuate, tip bluntly truncate. The cere is 
peculiar in that it mainly consists of two circular fleshy cones surrounding the 
small circular nostrils which are placed high up on each side of the culmen, 
which is rounded. It is recorded that in the immature the cere is soft, 
and from an examination of skins it is suggested that it is always soft to a 
great degree. 
The wing is long with the second primary longest, the third little shorter 
and scarcely exceeding the fourth which is larger than the first which much 
exceeds the fifth, these constituting the tip of the wing. 
The tail is typically platycercine, very long wedge with the middle two 
feathers slightly the longest : the length of the tail exceeds that of the wing. 
The feet are normal, very small and delicate. 
In this genus I also include Psephotus varius Clark, but there are some slight 
differences as follows : the bill is more projecting with the tip sharper : the 
wing has a similar formula, but the differences in length are noticeable, thus 
the second, third and fourth are almost equal, while the first is very little longer 
than the fifth. The tail is proportionately longer, well exceeding the length 
of the wing. The style of coloration is different and I suggest that osteological 
examination will cause the generic separation of these two species. In order 
to draw attention to this matter I propose to introduce the new subgeneric name . 
Clarkona for Psephotus varius Clark. 
A small Platycercine bird was discovered by Robert Brown and placed 
in the genus Psittacus by Kuhl and Temminck. Vigors and Horsfield classed 
it in their new genus Platycercus , but when Gould discovered additional species 
he proposed a new genus Psephotus for the series. Five species were admitted 
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