The Key to Scientific Names
- APROSMICTUS
(Psittaculidae; Ϯ Red-winged Parrot A. erythropterus) Gr. απροσμικτος aprosmiktos unsociable < negative prefix α- a-; προσμενω prosmenō to remain attached to; “"on examination of the two birds known as Pl. erythropterus and Pl. scapulatus, I found that the difference of their habits from those of the typical Platycerci was accompanied by a sufficient difference in their anatomy to warrant their separation into a distinct genus. Independently of the variations indicated in the generic characters given below, these birds are remarkable for possessing a tolerably well-developed os furcatorium, which bone is entirely wanting in the true Platycerci and Euphemi: in their habits they approach nearer to the Lories, are of a dull and sullen disposition, and do not readily become tame and familiar like the Platycerci; they are also essentially arboreal, procuring their food among the branches of the trees; while the Platycerci resort to the ground and feed principally upon grass seeds." These two birds he therefore proposed to erect into a new genus, under the appellation of ASPROSMICTUS. Gen. Char. ut in Platycerco.—Rostrum attamen debilius, ceromate plumis tenuibus instar pilorum nares adumbrantibus instructo. Alæ longiores et minus concavæ. Cauda magis quadrata. Tarsi breviores. Digiti longiores. Types.— Platycercus scapulatus and erythropterus, which will now stand as Aprosmictus scapulatus and A. erythropterus.” (Gould 1843); "Aprosmictus Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1842 (1843), p. 111. Type, by subsequent designation Psittacus erythropterus Gmelin (G. R. Gray, Gen. Bds., 2, 1846, p. 408)." (Peters, 1937, III, p. 247).
Var. Apromictus, Aspromictus.
Synon. Ptistes.
