File:The genera of birds (19150330776).jpg

Order ITT. SCANSORES.
The second Family,
PSITTACID.E, or Parrots,
have the Bill more or less large and strong, with the culmen arched to the tip, which is prolonged and
acute, the lateral margins sometimes dentated, and the base covered by a cere, of greater or less size, in
which the nostrils are placed ; the Wings and the Tail generally long ; and the Tarsi usually very short
and robust.
The first Subfamily,
PEZOPORINiE, or Ground Parrakeets,
have the Bill moderate, with the culmen usually rounded and arched to the tip, which is sometimes
dentated ; the Tarsi more or less short and robust ; and the Tail broad, lengthened, and more or less
graduated, with the ends of the feathers narrowed, and rounded or pointed.
Nymphicus Wagl.*
Bill moderate, compressed on the sides towards the culmen, which is curved to the acute tip ; the
lateral margins strongly dentated ; the gonys broad and angular ; the nostrils basal, lateral, placed in
a short rounded cere near the culmen, and with the opening large. Wings very long, with the second
quill the longest. Tail very long, broad, and rounded on the sides, with the two middle feathers
prolonged beyond the others, and pointed. Tarsi short, stout, and covered with small scales. Toes
long and slender, with the outer anterior one the longest, and all covered with small scales, and
armed with acute, slightly curved claws.
The type is peculiar to Australia. It is a migratory bird, congregating in immense flocks before taking its de-
parture for a fresh locality. Mr. Gould observes that he has seen the ground quite covered by them while engaged in
procuring food : and it is not an unusual circumstance to see hundreds together on the dead branches of the gum trees
in the neighbourhood of water. Its form admirably adapts it for terrestrial progression ; hence it is enabled readily
to procure the seeds of the various grasses, upon which it almost solely subsists. Its flight is even and easy, and is
capable of being long protracted. When roused from the ground, it flies up into the nearest trees, almost invariably
selecting a dead branch, upon which it frequently perches lengthwise. It breeds in the holes of gum and other trees
growing on the flats and in the neighbourhood of water. The eggs are five or six in number.

• Wagler established this genus in 1830 (Abhandl. Akad. Miinchen, 1832, p. 490.). Calopsitta of M. Lesson (1831) and Leptolophus