The eggs of the _Trichoglossi_ are from two to four in number.
409. Trichoglossus Swainsonii, _Jard. & Selb._ Vol. V. Pl. 48.
410. Trichoglossus rubritorquis, _Vig. & Vol. V. Pl. 49. Horsf._
“Procured at Port Molle on the north-east coast, previously only found at Port Essington.”—J. M’Gillivray.
411. Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus. Vol. V. Pl. 50. 412. Trichoglossus versicolor, _Vig._ Vol. V. Pl. 51. 413. Trichoglossus concinnus. Vol. V. Pl. 52. 414. Trichoglossus porphyrocephalus, _Diet._ Vol. V. Pl. 53. 415. Trichoglossus pusillus. Vol. V. Pl. 54.
The members of this important family are distributed over every portion of the globe, in no part of which are they more numerous than in Australia, since that country is inhabited by no less than twenty-one species, which, like its _Psittacidæ_, comprise several well-marked and distinct genera, and appear to be naturally divided into two great groups, the one arboreal, the other terrestrial; the _Ptilinopi_, _Carpophagæ_ and _Lopholaimus_, with their expansive gullets and broad hand-like feet forming part of the former, and the _Phaps_, _Geophaps_ and _Geopeliæ_ the latter. The _Ptilinopi_ and other allied forms are, in consequence of the peculiar character of the vegetation, confined, without a single exception, to the eastern and northern parts of the country.
The species of the genus _Phaps_, a form which I believe to be confined to Australia, are more widely dispersed than those of any other section of the family, being universally distributed over the entire country from north to south and from east to west; even the parched deserts of the interior are visited by them if a supply of water be within reach of their evening flight, which is performed with the most extraordinary rapidity and power.
The species of this genus, the most brilliant and highly-coloured of the _Columbidæ_, range over Australia, New Guinea, Malacca, Celebes, and Polynesia; two of the three Australian species are I believe confined to that country.
416. Ptilinopus Swainsonii, _Gould_ Vol. V. Pl. 55. 417. Ptilinopus Ewingii, _Gould_ Vol. V. Pl. 56. 418. Ptilinopus superbus Vol. V. Pl. 57.
_Ptilinopus superbus_, Steph. cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p. 279.