_Mascarinus_ Lesson, Traité d'Orn. p. 188 (1831--A mixture of forms. By elimination the name _Mascarinus_ has been restricted to the Mascarine Parrot). The generic affinities of this bird have been discussed by various authors. Wagler, Gray, Pelzeln, Hartlaub (1877) and Messrs. A. and E. Newton united it with the Vaza Parrots in the genus _Coracopsis_, Finsch included it, together with the Vazas and the Grey Parrot (_Psittacus erithacus_), in the genus _Psittacus_. Recent authors--Oustalet 1893, W. A. Forbes 1879, and Salvadori (Cat. B. XX, p. 421, 1891)--have admitted a separate genus, _Mascarinus_. This is evidently the proper course, and I agree with W. A. Forbes, Oustalet and Salvadori that its nearest affinities appear to be the genus _Tanygnathus_ rather than _Coracopsis_, and that the place of _Mascarinus_ is among the _Palaeornithinae_ of Salvadori. The large red bill, with distinctly ridged gonys, concealed nostrils and moderately long, strongly rounded tail, are peculiar characters. The colouration is unique. Only one species is known. {64} MASCARINUS MASCARINUS (L.) MASCARINE PARROT. (PLATE 9.) "_Perroquets un peu plus gros que pigeons, ayant le plumage de couleur de petit gris, un chaperon noir sur la teste, le becq fort gros, & couleur de feu_" Le Sieur D.B, (Dubois), Voyages aux Iles Dauphine ou Madagascar, et Bourbon ou Mascarenne. p. 172 (1674--"Bourbon ou Mascarenne"). _Psittacus Mascarinus_ Brisson, Orn. IV., p. 315 (1760); Hahn, Orn. Atlas, Papageien p. 54, pl. 39 (1835). _Psittacus mascarin._ Linnaeus, Mantissa Plantarum, regni animalis appendix p. 524 (1771--"Habitat in Mascarina." Ex Brisson). _Perroquet Mascarin_ Levaillant, Perroquets II, p. 171, pl. 189 (1805--"Madagascar," errore). _Mascarinus madagascariensis_ Lesson, Traité d'Orn, p. 189 (1831--"Madagascar," ex Levaillant). _Coracopsis mascarina_ Wagler, Mon. Psittac. p. 679 (1832); Pelzeln, Verh. Zool. Bot. Ges. Wien 1863, p. 934. _Mascarinus obscurus_ (non _Psittacus obscurus_ L.) Bonaparte, Rev. & Mag. de Zool. 1854 p. 154 (Linnaeus, _Psittacus obscurus_--Syst. Nat. Ed. X, p. 97, 1758, ex Hasselquist M.S.--though identified by himself with the Mascarine Parrot in 1766--Syst. Nat. Ed. XII, I, p. 140--cannot be the same as _P. mascarinus_; the description disagrees entirely, and the bird was described from a specimen probably seen alive by Hasselquist, with uncertain locality. What Linnaeus' _P. obscurus_ was, is difficult to say; if it was not for the long tail, one might consider it a variety of the Grey Parrot).