Genus— MELOPSITTACUS . 
Melopsittacus Gould, Birds Austr., pt. i. (Vol. V., pi. 44), 
1^40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Type N. undulatus. 
Smallest Pezoporine birds with very projecting bill with prominent cere, 
long wings, long tails with central feathers attenuate and small feet. The 
coloration is distinct, somewhat recalling that of the succeeding genera with 
which I associate it. 
The bill strongly projects with a sharply pointed tip, the lateral edges 
of the upper mandible strongly sinuate but not notched : the under mandible 
has a small truncate tip, the lateral edges slightly sinuate. The cere is 
large and prominent, quite unlike that of the preceding, the circular nostrils 
close together opening upwards, invisible from frontal beak view. 
The first primary is longest, with no scalloping on either web of the 
primaries. The tail is long and wedge shaped : the feathers narrow, the 
middle pair very much elongated beyond the next pair which are also 
attenuated, the rest normal and showing a short compact wedge. 
The feet are small and normal, the claws comparatively long and sharp. 
The exact relationships of this form are obscure, as it differs superficially 
from the preceding forms with which it has been commonly associated. The 
bill is quite different, especially in the cere, but in this feature it seems to 
differ also from the next species. It cannot really be exactly compared 
with either, and therefore on account of its style of coloration I have attached 
it to the latter. 
Osteologically it seems never to have been critically studied though it 
is one of the commonest forms. Yet D’Arcy Thompson has shown that 
in skull features it stands quite apart from the Platycercine group. The 
remarkable item is the complete orbit, and though D’Arcy Thompson 
concluded : “I have no doubt it is a real, though a somewhat aberrant, 
member (of the Platycercince ),” this is open to revision, as he did not have 
skulls of Pezo'porus for comparison. 
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