Chapter IV: Part 4

The figures are of the natural size.

MELOPSITTACUS UNDULATUS.

_J. & E. Gould del._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

MELOPSITTACUS UNDULATUS.
Warbling Grass-Parrakeet.

_Psittacus undulatus_, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 673.—Kuhl, Consp. Psitt.
in Nova Acta, &c., vol. x. p. 49.

_Undulated Parrot_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 179, pl. xxvi.

_Undulated Parrakeet_, _Psittacus undulatus_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol.
viii. p. 469.

_Nanodes undulatus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
277.—Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p. 119.—Lear’s
Ill. Psitt., pl. 13.—Selby, Nat. Lib., Parrots, p. 181, pl. 19.

_Euphema undulata_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., &c., pp. 493, 545,
and 707.

_Canary Parrot_, Colonists.

_Betcherrygah_, Natives of Liverpool Plains.

Among the numerous members of the family of Parrots inhabiting Australia, this lovely little bird is preeminent both for beauty of plumage and elegance of form, which, together with its extreme cheerfulness of disposition and sprightliness of manner, render it an especial favourite with all who have had an opportunity of seeing it alive. This animated disposition is as conspicuous in confinement as in its native wilds; a pair now before me are in exuberant health after having braved the severities of a passage to this country by way of Cape Horn in the midst of winter.

The first notice of this species was published by Dr. Shaw in his “Naturalist’s Miscellany,” and until lately, a single specimen, forming part of the collection of the Linnean Society, was the only one known; more recently, however, numbers have been added to our museums, and the bird is now far from being scarce. In all probability it is generally dispersed over the central parts of Australia; but is so exclusively an inhabitant of the vast inland plains, or, if I may so call it, basin of the interior, that it is rarely seen between the mountain ranges and the coast. In the whole southern portion of the continent it is strictly migratory, appearing in large flocks in spring, when the grass-seeds are plentiful, and retiring again after the breeding-season is over to more northern latitudes. My friend Captain Sturt, in one of his letters, dated at Adelaide, South Australia, informs me, that “The Scolloped Parrakeets,” the name given to these birds in that part of the country, “are found in vast flocks in the interior, and make their appearance here about October, following each other in flights like Starlings, in company with the little Crested Parrot (_Nymphicus Novæ-Hollandiæ_), holding a due north and south course. The flight of both is very rapid, and although an interval of half an hour may elapse, they all wend their way in the same direction. Whence come they?”

On arriving at Brezi, to the north of Liverpool Plains, in the beginning of December, I found myself surrounded by numbers, breeding in all the hollow spouts of the large _Eucalypti_ bordering the Mokai; and on crossing the plains between that river and the Peel, in the direction of the Turi Mountain, I saw them in flocks of many hundreds feeding upon the grass-seeds that were there abundant. So numerous were they, that I determined to encamp on the spot, in order to observe their habits and procure specimens. The nature of their food and the excessive heat of these plains compel them frequently to seek the water; hence my camp, which was pitched near some small pools, was constantly surrounded by large numbers, arriving in flocks varying from twenty to a hundred or more. The hours at which they were most numerous were early in the morning, and some time before dusk in the evening. Before going down to drink, they alight on the neighbouring trees, settling together in clusters, sometimes on the dead branches, and at others on the drooping boughs of the _Eucalypti_. Their flight is remarkably straight and rapid, and is generally accompanied by a screeching noise. During the heat of the day, when sitting motionless among the leaves of the gum-trees, they so closely assimilate in colour, particularly on the breast, that they are with difficulty detected.

It is known that migratory birds after a time forsake the districts they have been accustomed to frequent, and resort to others where they had scarcely ever before been seen: in confirmation of this view, I may state that the natives had never before observed this species in the districts where I found it so abundant; while on the lower Namoi, where formerly they had been very numerous, there was this year scarcely one to be found.

The breeding-season is at its height in December, and by the end of the month the young are generally capable of providing for themselves; they then assemble in vast flights, preparatory to their great migratory movement. The eggs are three or four in number, pure white, nine lines long by seven lines in diameter, and are deposited in the holes and spouts of the gum-trees without any nest.

The beauty and interesting nature of this little bird naturally made me anxious to bring home living examples; I accordingly captured about twenty fully fledged birds, and kept them alive for some time; but the difficulties necessarily attendant upon travelling in a new country rendering it impracticable to afford them the attention they required, I regret to say the whole were lost. My brother-in-law, Mr. Charles Coxen, who resides on the Peel, having succeeded in rearing several, kindly presented me with four, two of which, as before mentioned, have reached England in perfect health. As cage-birds they are as interesting as can possibly be imagined; for, independently of their highly ornamental appearance, they differ from all the other members of their family that I am acquainted with, in having a most animated and pleasing song; besides which, they are constantly billing, cooing, and feeding each other, and assuming every possible variety of graceful position. Their inward warbling song, which cannot be described, is unceasingly poured forth from morn to night, and is even continued throughout the night if they are placed in a room with lights, and where an animated conversation is carried on.

In a state of nature they feed exclusively upon grass-seeds, with which their crops are always found crammed: in confinement they thrive equally well upon canary-seed.

The sexes are precisely alike in the colouring and marking of their plumage, and gain their full livery in about eight months, or at the second moult from the time of leaving the breeding-place.

The young are distinguished from the adults by the crown of the head, which is yellow in the adult, being crossed by numerous fine bars of brown, by the absence of the deep blue spots on the throat, and by the irides being brownish grey.

The adults have the forehead and crown straw yellow; the remainder of the head, ear-coverts, nape, upper part of the back, scapularies and wing-coverts pale greenish yellow, each feather having a crescent-shaped mark of blackish brown near the extremity, these marks being numerous and minute on the head and neck; wings brown; the outer webs of the feathers deep green, margined with greenish yellow; face and throat yellow, ornamented on each cheek with a patch of rich blue, below which are three circular drops or spots of bluish black; rump, upper tail-coverts, and all the under surface bright green; two centre tail-feathers blue; the remaining tail-feathers green, crossed in the middle by an oblique band of yellow; irides straw white; nostrils bright blue in some, greenish blue and brown in others; legs pale bluish lead colour.

The figures represent an old and a young bird of the natural size.

NYMPHICUS NOVÆ-HOLLANDIÆ; (_Wagl:_)

_Drawn on Stone by J. & E. Gould from a Drawing by Edw.^d Lear._
_Printed by C. Hullmandel._
]

NYMPHICUS NOVÆ-HOLLANDIÆ, _Wagl._
Cockatoo Parrakeet.

_Psittacus Novæ-Hollandiæ_, Lath., Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 102.—Gmel.
Linn., vol. i. p. 323.

_Crested Parrakeet_, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i. p. 250.—Ib. Gen. Hist.,
vol. ii. p. 174, No. 88.—Shaw, Zool., vol. viii. p. 452.

_Palæornis Novæ-Hollandiæ_, Lear, Ill. Psitt. Pl. 27.

_Nymphicus Novæ-Hollandiæ_, Wagl., Mon. Psitt. in Abhand, &c., pp. 490
and 522.—Selb., Nat. Lib., vol. vi. Parrots, p. 186, Pl. 30.—G. R.
Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 66.

_Leptolophus auricomis_, Swains. Zool. Ill. 2nd Ser. Pl. 112.—Ib.
Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 305.

_Calopsitta Guy_, Less., Ill. Zool. vol. iii. 2nd sp., Pl 112.,
female.

The interior portion of the vast continent of Australia may be said to possess a Fauna almost peculiar to itself, but of which our present knowledge is extremely limited. New forms therefore of great interest may be expected when the difficulties which the explorer has to encounter in his journey towards the centre shall be overcome. The beautiful and elegant bird forming the subject of the present Plate is one of its denizens; I have it is true seen it cross the great mountain ranges and breed on the flats between them and the sea; still this is an unusual occurrence, and the few there found compared to the thousands observed on the plains stretching from the interior side of the mountains, proves that they have as it were overstepped their natural boundary. Its range is extended over the whole of the southern portion of Australia, and being strictly a migratory bird, it makes a simultaneous movement southward to within one hundred miles of the coast in September, arriving in the York district near Swan River in Western Australia precisely at the same time that it appears on the Liverpool Plains in the eastern portion of the country. After breeding and rearing a numerous progeny, the whole again retire northwards in February and March, but to what degree of latitude towards the tropics they wend their way I have not been able satisfactorily to ascertain. I have never received it from Port Essington, or any other part in the same latitude, which, however, is no proof that it does not visit that part of the continent, since it is merely the country near the coast that has yet been traversed; in all probability it will be found at a little distance in the interior, wherever there are situations suitable to its habits, but doubtless at opposite periods to those in which it occurs in New South Wales. It would appear to be more numerous in the eastern division of Australia than in the western. During the summer of 1839 it was breeding in all the apple-tree (_Angophora_) flats on the Upper Hunter, as well as on all similar districts on the Peel, and other rivers which flow northwards. After the breeding-season is over it congregates in immense flocks before taking its departure. I have seen the ground quite covered by them while engaged in procuring food, and it was not an unusual circumstance to see hundreds together on the dead branches of the gum-trees in the neighbourhood of water, a plentiful supply of which would appear to be essential to its existence; hence we may reasonably suppose that the interior of the country is not so sterile and inhospitable as is ordinarily imagined, and that it yet may be made available for the uses of man. The Harlequin Bronzewing and the Warbling Grass Parrakeet are also denizens of that part of the country, and equally unable to exist without water.

The flight of the Cockatoo Parrakeet is even and easy, and is capable of being long protracted. When roused from the ground it flies up into the nearest tree, almost invariably selecting a dead branch, upon which it frequently perches lengthwise. It is by no means a shy bird, so that any number may be shot: from the circumstance of its being excellent eating many are annually killed for the purposes of the table. 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.

As a cage-bird this species is particularly interesting, becoming readily domesticated, playful and amusing. The accompanying Plate is from a beautiful drawing made by Mr. Lear, from two living birds in the possession of the Countess of Mountcharles.

Considerable difference exists in the plumage of the sexes, the tail-feathers of the male being entirely destitute of the transverse bars which adorn those of the other sex.

It breeds in the holes of gum and other trees growing on the flats and in the neighbourhood of water. The eggs are white, five or six in number, one inch long by three quarters of an inch broad.

The male has the forehead, crest and cheeks lemon yellow; ear-coverts rich reddish orange; back of the neck, two centre tail-feathers, and the external margins of the primaries brownish grey; back, shoulders, all the under surface and outer tail-feathers greyish chocolate brown, the shoulders and flanks being the darkest; a white mark extends from the shoulders lengthwise down the centre of the wing; irides dark brown; bill bluish lead-colour, lighter on the under side of the lower mandible; legs and feet bluish grey.

The female differs from the male in the colour of the face and crest being of a dull olive yellow, the latter becoming still darker at its extremity; in having the throat greyish brown, and the back lighter than in the male; the lower part of the abdomen, upper tail-coverts, yellow; four middle tail-feathers grey, the remainder yellow, the whole transversely and irregularly barred with lines of brown, with the exception of the outer web of the outer feather on each side, which is pure yellow.

The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.

PEZOPORUS FORMOSUS: _Ill:_

_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]

PEZOPORUS FORMOSUS, _Ill._
Ground Parrakeet.

_Psittacus formosus_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 103.—Kuhl, Consp.
Psitt. in Nova Acta, vol. x. p. 45.

—— _terrestris_, Shaw, Mus. Lev., p. 217. pl. 53.—Ib. Zool. of New
Holl., pl. 3.—Ib. Nat. Misc., pl. 228.

_Perruche ingambé_, Le Vaill. Hist. Nat. des Perr., tom. i. p. 66. pl.
32.

_Black-spotted Parrakeet of Van Diemen’s Land_, D’Entrecast. Voy.,
vol. ii. p. 47. pl. x.

_Ground Parrot_, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp., vol. ii. p. 26.—Shaw’s Gen.
Zool., vol. viii. p. 454. pl. 66.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 137.

_Pezoporus formosus_, Ill. Prod., p. 201.—Vig. and Horsf. in Linn.
Trans., vol. xv. p. 285.—Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., pp. 490 and
520.—Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 305.—G. R. Gray, Gen. of
Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 66.

—— _rufifrons_, Bourj. de St. Hil. Supp. to Le Vaill. Hist. Nat. des
Perr., pl. 9.

_Bȍo-run-dȕr-dee_, Aborigines northward of Perth in Western Australia.

_Djȁr-doon-gȕr-ree_, Aborigines around Perth.

_Djul-bat-̏la_, Aborigines southward of Perth.

_Ky-lȍr-ing_, Aborigines of King George’s Sound.

_Goolingnang_, Aborigines near Sydney, New South Wales.

_Swamp Parrakeet_, Colonists of Van Diemen’s Land.

_Ground Parrakeet_, Colonists of New South Wales and Western
Australia.

The Ground Parrakeet is diffused over the whole of the southern portions of Australia, including Van Diemen’s Land, wherever localities exist suitable to its habits, and so far as I could learn, it is everywhere a stationary species. It has never been observed in the northern latitudes of the continent, but our knowledge of the productions of those parts of Australia is so very imperfect, that I cannot positively affirm that it does not exist there. Unlike some of the African members of its family, which are inelegant in form and slow and ungraceful in their actions, the _Pezoporus formosus_ is as active and graceful as can well be imagined; and although in its colouring it cannot vie with some of its more gaudily attired brethren, it possesses a style of plumage and diversity of markings far from unpleasing. Having very frequently encountered it in a state of nature, I am enabled to state that in its actions it differs from every other known species of its race, as it also does in its habits and economy, which I shall now attempt to describe. Whether the power of perching is entirely denied to it or not I am uncertain, but I never saw it fly into a tree, nor could I ever force it to take shelter on the branches. It usually frequents either sandy sterile districts covered with tufts of rank grass and herbage, or low swampy flats abounding with rushes and the other kinds of vegetation peculiar to such situations. It is generally observed either singly or in pairs, but from its very recluse habits and great powers of running it is seldom or ever seen until it is flushed, and then only for a short time, as it soon pitches again and runs off to a place of seclusion, often under the covert of the Grass-tree (_Xanthorrhœa_), which abounds in the districts it frequents. A striking analogy in the foregoing habits to those of the Gallinaceæ and some of the Grallatores,—Snipes, &c., is very apparent; and a still further analogy to those tribes of birds is exhibited in the manner of its crouching on the approach of danger and in the strong scent it emits, which has many times caused my dogs to road it, and point as dead as they would have done had game been before them; consequently, when shooting over swampy land in Australia, the sportsman is never certain whether a parrakeet or a snipe will rise to the point of his dog. It flies near the ground with great rapidity, frequently making several zigzag turns in the short distance of a hundred yards, beyond which it seldom passes without again pitching to the ground. Its flesh is excellent, being much more delicate in flavour than that of the snipe, and equalling, if not surpassing, that of the quail. Its white eggs, the number of which I could not ascertain, are deposited on the bare ground. I possess examples of the young of all ages, from the egg to maturity, some killed in Van Diemen’s Land, and others from various parts of Australia; I also procured both adults and young on Flinders’ Island, where I found them breeding on the grassy plains which cover the greater portion of that island. The young assume the colouring of the adult at a very early age, but the sexes offer no external difference by which they can be distinguished.

Plumage of the whole of the upper surface dark grass-green, each feather crossed by irregular bands of black and yellow; feathers of the crown and nape with a broad streak of black down the centre; forehead scarlet; neck and breast pale yellowish green, passing into bright greenish yellow on the abdomen and under tail-coverts, crossed by numerous irregular waved blackish bands; primaries and spurious wings green on their outer webs and dark brown on the inner, each of the latter with a triangular spot of pale yellow near the base; four centre tail-feathers green, crossed by numerous narrow bars of yellow; lateral tail-feathers yellow, crossed by numerous bars of deep green; irides black with a fine ring of light grey; feet and legs bluish flesh-colour.

The figures are of the natural size.

LATHAMUS DISCOLOR.

_J. & E. Gould del^t._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

LATHAMUS DISCOLOR
Swift Lorikeet.

_Red-shouldered Paroquet_, _Psittacus discolor_, Shaw, in White’s
Voy., pl. in p. 263.

_Red-shouldered Parrakeet_, Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 269.—Lath. Gen.
Syn. Supp., ii. p. 90.

_Psittacus discolor_, Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. xxi.—Swains. Zool.
Ill., 1st Ser., pl. 62.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 176.—Shaw’s
Zool., vol. viii. p. 466.

_Psittacus humeralis_, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Nova Acta, vol. x. p.
47.

_Psittacus Australis_, Ibid. p. 48.—Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat.,
tom. xxv. p. 342.—Ibid. Ency. Méth., 3ième Part. p. 1384.

_Perruche Banks_, Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr., p. 104, pl. 50.

_Nanodes discolor_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
276.—Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 305.—Steph. Cont. of
Shaw’s Zool., vol. xiv. p. 118.

_Euphema discolor_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., vol. i. pp. 492 and
545.—G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, p. 52.

_Psittacus Banksianus_, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxv. p.
342.—Ibid. Ency. Méth., 3ième Part. p. 1383.

_Lathamus rubrifrons_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 205.

_La Perruche Latham_, Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr., p. 123, pl. 62,
young.

_Psittacus discolor_, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Nova Acta, vol. x. p. 48,
young.

_Swift Parrakeet_, Colonists of Van Diemen’s Land.

No one of the Australian birds will be more deeply imprinted upon my memory than the Swift Lorikeet, associated as it is with many of the most pleasing recollections connected with my visit to that part of the world. The accompanying drawing was one of many made by Mrs. Gould in Van Diemen’s Land, during a long residence in the house of the Governor, Sir John Franklin, who, together with his amiable lady, took the greatest interest in our pursuits, and rendered us every possible assistance their kind hearts and excellent dispositions could suggest.

Much confusion has hitherto existed both as regards the generic appellation and the division of the _Psittacidæ_, to which this elegant Lorikeet should be referred; but as I have endeavoured to clear up these points in my observations upon the genus, it is needless to repeat them here. It is a migratory species, passing the summer and breeding-season only in the more southern parts of the Australian continent and Van Diemen’s Land, and retiring northward for the remainder of the year. During September and the four following months, it is not only abundant in all the gum-forests of Van Diemen’s Land, but is very common in the shrubberies and gardens at Hobart Town, small flights being constantly seen passing up and down the streets, and flying in various directions over the houses. They approach close to the windows, and are even frequently to be seen on the gum-trees bordering the streets, and within a few feet of the heads of the passing inhabitants, being so intent upon gathering the honey from the fresh-blown flowers which daily expand, as almost entirely to disregard the presence of the spectator. The tree to which they are so eagerly attracted, and a branch of which is figured in the accompanying Plate, is the _Eucalyptus gibbosus_, young or cultivated specimens of which appear to have finer blossoms than those in their native forests. It is certainly the finest of the genus I have ever seen, and when its pendent branches are covered with thick clusters of pale yellow blossoms, presents a most beautiful appearance; these blossoms are so charged with saccharine matter, that the birds soon fill themselves with honey, even to their very throats: several of those I shot, upon being held up by the feet, discharged from their mouths a stream of this liquid to the amount of a dessert-spoonful or more, as clear as water. Small flocks of from four to twenty in number are also frequently to be seen passing over the town, chasing each other with the quickness of thought, and uttering at the same time a shrill screaming noise, like the Swift of Europe, whence in all probability has arisen its colonial name. Sometimes these flights appear to be taken for the sake of exercise, or in the mere playfulness of disposition, while at others the birds are passing from one garden to another, or proceeding from the town to the forests at the foot of Mount Wellington, or _vice versâ_. Their plumage so closely assimilates in colour to the leaves of the trees they frequent, and they moreover creep so quietly yet actively from branch to branch, clinging in every possible position, that were it not for their movements and the trembling of the leaves, it would be difficult to perceive them without a minute examination of the tree upon which they have alighted. I found them breeding about midway between Hobart Town and Brown’s River, but was not fortunate enough to obtain their eggs, in consequence of the situations selected for their reception being holes in the loftiest and most inaccessible trees; they are said to be two in number, and the circumstance of my having found a fully-developed hardshelled egg in the ovarium of a female I dissected on the sixth of October, enables me to state that, like those of the other members of the family, they are perfectly white.

The only part of New South Wales in which I have observed them was on the fine estate of Yarrundi, in the district of the Upper Hunter, belonging to S. Coxen, Esq., who informed me that they periodically pass through his estate during the months of February and March.

In its actions and manners it is closely allied to the true _Trichoglossi_ but differs from them in some few particulars, which are more perceptible in captivity than in a state of nature; it has neither the musky smell nor the jumping motions of _Trichoglossus concinnus_, and is much more cleanly in its habits than that species.

Though in its style of colouring and in its more lengthened and slender tail it is beautifully intermediate between the Grass Parrakeets and the _Trichoglossi_, still I have never observed it to alight upon the ground, or elsewhere than among the branches, and it undoubtedly must be placed with the latter group.

The sexes are very similar in colour, but the female may always be distinguished from her mate by being much smaller in size and less brilliant in all her markings. The young at an early age assume the plumage of the adult, after which they undergo no change.

Face scarlet, with a spot of yellow at the gape; crown of the head deep blue; all the upper and under surface green, the latter being somewhat the lightest; shoulders, under wing- and under tail-coverts scarlet; secondaries and wing-coverts bluish green; primaries deep blackish blue, finely margined with yellow; tail deep blue, tinged with red, passing into black at the extremity; irides rich hazel-yellow; feet flesh-brown; bill horn-colour.

The figures are of the natural size.

TRICHOGLOSSUS SWAINSONII: _Jard: and Selb:_

_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del^t._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

TRICHOGLOSSUS SWAINSONII, _Jard. and Selb._
Swainson’s Lorikeet.

_Perruche de Moluques_, Buff. Pl. Enl. 743.

_Blue-bellied Parrakeet_, Brown, Ill. of Zool., pl. 7.

_Blue-bellied Parrot_, White’s Voy., pl. in p. 140.—Phill. Bot. Bay.,
pl. in p. 152.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 413. pl. 59.

_Le Perruche à tête bleue_, male, Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr., tom. i.
pl. 24.

_Trichoglossus hæmatodus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.
p. 289.

—— _multicolor_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., tom. i. p. 553.

—— _Swainsonii_, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. iii. pl. 112.—Selb.
Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. vi. Parrots, p. 153. pl. 20.—Swain. Zool. Ill.
2nd Ser., vol. ii. pl. 92.—Ib. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 304.

_Warrin_, Aborigines of New South Wales.

This beautiful Lorikeet, so familiar to every ornithologist, has been for many years confounded with two other nearly allied species, and hence has arisen an almost inexplicable mass of confusion respecting them; their true synonymies have, however, been most ably worked out by Mr. Swainson in a paper sent by him to Sir William Jardine and Mr. Selby for insertion in their “Illustrations of Ornithology,” wherein those gentlemen, fully satisfied of the justness of Mr. Swainson’s observations, took an opportunity of naming this species _Swainsonii_, a tribute to the talents of that naturalist in which I most cordially participate.

The present bird, so far as is yet known, is almost exclusively an inhabitant of the south-eastern portion of the Australian continent lying between South Australia and Moreton Bay, at least I have never heard of its existence in any part westward of the former or northward of the latter. It also occurs in Van Diemen’s Land, but its visits to that island do not appear to be either regular or frequent.

The flowers of the various species of _Eucalypti_ furnish this bird with an abundant supply of food, and so exclusively is it confined to the forests composed of those trees, that I do not recollect to have met with it in any other. It also evinces a preference for those that are covered with newly expanded blossoms, which afford them the greatest supply of nectarine juice and pollen, upon which they principally subsist. However graphically it might be described, I scarcely believe it possible to convey an idea of the appearance of a forest of flowering gums tenanted by several species of _Trichoglossi_, _Meliphagi_, &c.; three or four species being frequently seen on the same tree, and often simultaneously attacking the pendent blossoms of the same branch. The incessant din produced by their thousand voices, and the screaming notes they emit, when a flock of either species simultaneously leave the trees for some other part of the forest, baffles all description, and must be seen and heard to be fully comprehended. So intent are the _Trichoglossi_ for some time after sunrise upon extracting their honey-food, that they are not easily alarmed or made to quit the trees upon which they are feeding. The report of a gun discharged immediately beneath them has no other effect than to elicit an extra scream, or cause them to move to a neighbouring branch, where they again recommence feeding with all the avidity possible, creeping among the leaves and clinging beneath the branches in every variety of position. During one of my morning rambles in the brushes of the Hunter I came suddenly upon an immense _Eucalyptus_, which was at least two hundred feet high. The blossoms of this noble tree had attracted hundreds of birds, both Parrots and Honey-suckers; and from a single branch I killed the four species of _Trichoglossi_ inhabiting the district, viz. _T. Swainsonii_, _chlorolepidotus_, _concinnus_ and _pusillus_. I mention this fact in proof of the perfect harmony existing between these species while feeding; a night’s rest, however, and the taming effect of hunger, doubtless contributed much to this harmonious feeling, as I observed that at other periods of the day they were not so friendly.

Although the _T. Swainsonii_ is so numerous in New South Wales, I did not succeed in procuring its eggs; the natives informed me that they are two in number, and that they are deposited in the holes of the largest _Eucalypti_, the period of incubation being from September to January.

Head, sides of the face and throat blue, with a lighter stripe down the centre of each feather; across the occiput a narrow band of greenish yellow; all the upper surface green, blotched at the base of the neck with scarlet and yellow; wings dark green on their outer webs; their inner webs black, crossed by a broad oblique band of bright yellow; tail green above, passing into blue on the tips of the two central feathers; under surface of the tail greenish yellow; chest crossed by a broad band, the centre of which is rich scarlet, with a few of the feathers fringed with deep blue, and the sides being rich orange-yellow margined with scarlet; under surface of the shoulder and sides of the chest deep blood-red; abdomen rich deep blue, blotched on each side with scarlet and yellow; under tail-coverts rich yellow, with an oblong patch of green at the extremity of each feather; bill blood-red, with the extreme tip yellow; nostrils and bare space round the eye brownish black; irides reddish orange, with a narrow ring of dark brown next the pupil; feet olive.

The sexes resemble each other so closely both in size and colouring that they cannot be distinguished with certainty.

The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.

TRICHOGLOSSUS RUBRITORQUIS, _Vig. and Horsf._

_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del^t._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

TRICHOGLOSSUS RUBRITORQUIS, _Vig. and Horsf._
Red-collared Lorikeet.

_Trichoglossus rubritorquis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol.
xv. p. 291.—Lear’s Ill. Psitt., pl. 34.—Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in
Abhand., tom. i. p. 552.

This lovely _Trichoglossus_ inhabits the northern coasts of Australia, and is as beautiful a representative of its near ally, the _T. Swainsonii_ of the south coast, as can well be imagined. In their habits and economy also the two birds so closely approximate that a description of one will serve for both. Independently of the richer blue of the head, the red nuchal collar and dull blackish olive mark on the abdomen are marks by which it may readily be distinguished. The Red-collared Lorikeet is by far the most beautiful bird of the two, and indeed in the splendour of its colouring is second to no member of its group.

The specimens from which my figures were taken were procured at Port Essington. Mr. Gilbert remarks, that “this species is abundant in all parts of the Cobourg Peninsula and the adjacent islands; and is an especial favourite with the natives, who carefully preserve the heads of all they kill for the purpose of ornamenting their persons, by slinging them to the arm a little above the elbow. It is generally seen in large flocks, feeding on the summits of the loftiest trees. Its flight is rapid in the extreme. Like the other _Trichoglossi_, its food consists of honey and the buds of flowers.”

Of its nidification nothing is yet known.

The sexes present little difference in appearance, and may be thus described:—

Head and cheeks resplendent blue; throat and abdomen deep olive-green; chest crossed by a broad band of orange-red; a narrow band of the same colour across the occiput, below which band is a broader one of deep blue, the basal portion of the feathers being red; back, wings, tail and under tail-coverts grass-green; basal half of the inner webs of the primaries yellow; irides red, with a narrow ring of yellowish round the pupil; bill vermilion; tarsi silken green in front; inside of the feet and back of the tarsi ash-grey.

The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.

TRICHOGLOSSUS CHLOROLEPIDOTUS: _Jard. & Selb._

_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

TRICHOGLOSSUS CHLOROLEPIDOTUS, _Jard. and Selb._
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet.

_Psittacus chlorolepidotus_, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Nov. Act., vol. x.
p. 48.

_Trichoglossus Matoni, Vig. and Horsf_. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
292.

_Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus_, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. iii.
pl. 110.—Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., p. 550.

The present Lorikeet is one of the four species of this genus inhabiting New South Wales, which portion of Australia may be regarded as its stronghold, for I have never even seen a skin from any of the other colonies; hence, like many other species, it is very local, confined as it were to certain limits, and those of small extent. To give any detailed account of its habits and mode of life would be merely repeating what I have said respecting the _Trichoglossus Swainsonii_, with which it frequently associates and even feeds on the same branch; it is, however, not so numerous as that species, nor so generally distributed over the face of the country. The brushes near the coast, studded here and there with enormous gums, towering high above every other tree by which they are surrounded, are the localities especially resorted to by it: in the interior of the country, on the contrary, where the _Trichoglossus Swainsonii_ is equally as numerous as in the neighbourhood of the coast, I never observed it.

Its sole food is honey, gathered from the cups of the newly expanded blossoms of the _Eucalypti_, upon which it feeds to such an excess, that on suspending a fresh-shot specimen by the toes a large teaspoonful, at least, of liquid honey will flow from the mouth; hence, when we know this to be the natural food of the principal members of the group, how can it be expected that they can exist in captivity upon the hard seeds or farinaceous food so generally given as a substitute? A proper attention to the diet of these birds, by supplying them with food of a saccharine character, would doubtless be attended with the best results, and enable us to keep them as denizens of our cages and aviaries, as well as the other members of the family; and when it is considered that they are among the most elegant and beautiful of their tribe, I trust those who may have an opportunity will be induced to make a trial.

The Scaly-breasted Lorikeet breeds in all the large _Eucalypti_ near Maitland on the Hunter, but I regret to say I did not procure its eggs, or any information respecting its nidification.

The sexes are so closely alike as not to be outwardly distinguished.

All the upper surface, wings and tail rich grass-green; a few feathers at the back of the neck and all the feathers of the under surface bright yellow, margined at the tip with a crescent of grass-green, giving the whole a fasciated appearance; under surface of the shoulder and base of the primaries and secondaries rich scarlet; bill beautiful blood-red, inclining to orange at the tip; cere and orbits olive; irides in some specimens scarlet with a circle of buff round the pupil, in others buffy yellow.

The figures are of the natural size.

TRICHOGLOSSUS VERSICOLOR: _Vig._

_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del^t._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

TRICHOGLOSSUS VERSICOLOR, _Vig._
Varied Lorikeet.

_Trichoglossus versicolor_, Vig. in Lear’s Ill. Psitt., pl. 36.—Selb.
in Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. vi. Parrots, p. 157, pl. 21.

_W̏e-ro-ole_, Aborigines of Port Essington.

There is no other species of the genus _Trichoglossus_ yet discovered with which the present could be confounded; it is at once rendered conspicuously distinct from all its allies by the narrow stripe of yellow down the centre of the feathers of the upper and under surface; it will not therefore be necessary to enter into a minute description of its size and colour, particularly as the figures in the accompanying Plate are of the size of life, and as near the appearance of nature as it is possible to pourtray them.

The northern coast is the only part of Australia in which this elegant little Lorikeet has yet been discovered: it is particularly abundant at Port Essington, where its suctorial mode of feeding leads it, like the other members of the genus, to frequent the flowery _Eucalypti_. Mr. Gilbert says, “This bird congregates at times in immense flocks; when a flock is on the wing their movements are so regular and simultaneous that they might easily be mistaken for a cloud passing rapidly along, were it not for the utterance of their usual piercing scream, which is frequently so loud as to be almost deafening. They feed on the topmost branches of the _Eucalypti_ and _Melaleucæ_. I observed them to be extremely abundant during the month of August on all the small islands in Van Diemen’s Gulf.

“The stomach is membranous and extremely diminutive in size. The food consists of honey and minute portions of the blossoms of their favourite trees.”

Could this species be transmitted to Europe, and a kind of food suitable to it be discovered, it would form one of the most delightful cage-pets that has ever been introduced.

The male has the lores and crown of the head rich deep red; round the neck a collar of deep cærulean blue; back brownish green; wings green; rump and upper tail-coverts light yellowish green; across the chest a broad band of purplish red; under surface of the shoulder, abdomen, flanks and under tail-coverts light yellowish green; all the feathers of the upper surface with a narrow stripe of yellowish green; the stripes being more yellow at the occiput, almost form a band; ear-coverts yellow; all the feathers of the under surface with a narrow line of bright yellow down the centre; on each side of the abdomen and down the inside of the thighs stained with patches of purplish red; primaries black, margined externally with deep green, with a fine line of yellowish green on the extreme edge of the feathers; tail deep green, all but the two middle feathers greenish yellow on their internal webs; irides bright reddish yellow, with a very narrow ring of dark red next the pupil; bill scarlet; cere and naked space round the eyes greenish white; tarsi and feet light ash-grey.

The female resembles her mate, but is much less brilliant in all her markings.

The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.

TRICHOGLOSSUS CONCINNUS: _Vig. & Horsf._

_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

TRICHOGLOSSUS CONCINNUS, _Vig. and Horsf._
Musky Parrakeet.

_Psittacus Australis_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 104.

_Psittacus concinnus_, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 87.—Kuhl, Nova Acta, tom.
x. p. 46.

_Perruche à bandeau rouge_, Le Vaill. Perr., tom. i. p. 99. pl. 48.

_Pacific Paroquet_, Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 155.

_Pacific Parrot_, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 87.

_Pacific Parrakeet_, _Psittacus pacificus_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol.
viii. p. 419.

_Crimson-fronted Parrakeet_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 181.

_Psittacus rubrifrons_, Bechst. Uebers der Vog., Lath. s. 84. no. 99.

_Trichoglossus concinnus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.
p. 292.—Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. i. pl. 34.

_Lathamus concinnus_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 206.

_Trichoglossus Australis_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., tom. i. pp.
493 and 549.

_Psittacus velatus_, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxv. p.
373.—Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn., Part III. p. 1405.

_Coolich_, Aborigines of New South Wales.

_Musk Parrakeet_, Colonists.

This species of _Trichoglossus_ inhabits Van Diemen’s Land, New South Wales and South Australia, and is very generally distributed over all parts of those countries. I have never heard of its inhabiting either the western or northern portions of Australia, whence I infer that its habitat is restricted to the south and south-eastern divisions of the continent. Like every other species of the genus, the present bird is always to be found upon the _Eucalypti_, whose blossoms afford it a never-failing supply of honey, one or other of the numerous species of that tribe of trees being in flower at all seasons of the year. It is stationary in New South Wales, but I am not certain that it is so in the more southern country of Van Diemen’s Land, where it is known by the name of the Musk Parrakeet, from the peculiar odour of the bird.

It is a noisy species, and with its screeching note keeps up a perpetual din around the trees in which it is located. During its search for honey it creeps among the leaves and smaller branches in the most extraordinary manner, hanging and clinging about them in every possible variety of position. It generally associates in flocks, and is so excessively tame that it is very difficult to drive it from the trees, or even from any particular branch. Although usually associated in flocks it appears to be mated in pairs, which at all times keep together during flight, and settle side by side when the heat of the sun prompts them to shelter themselves under the shade of the more redundantly leaved branches.

The eggs, which are dirty white and two in number, are of a rounded form, one inch in length and seven-eighths of an inch in breadth. Those I obtained were taken from a hole in a large _Eucalyptus_ growing on the Liverpool range.

The sexes present no difference in colour, and the young assume the plumage of the adult at a very early age.

Forehead and ear-coverts deep crimson-red; at the upper part of the back a broad patch of light chestnut-brown; the remainder of the plumage grass-green; on the flanks a spot of orange; primaries and secondaries black, broadly margined on the external webs with grass-green; base of all but the inner webs of the lateral tail-feathers deep red at the base, passing into yellow and tipped with grass-green; bill blackish brown, passing into reddish orange at the tip; cere and orbits olive-brown; irides buff, surrounded by a narrow circle of yellow.

I was not aware, until after the impressions of the present plate had been printed, that Dr. Latham had applied the specific term of _Australis_ to this bird long before that of _concinnus_ was conferred upon it by Shaw; a fact, however, with which the accurate Wagler was acquainted, and which he has recorded in his valuable Monograph of the _Psittacidæ_ above quoted; the correct appellation of the species is therefore _Trichoglossus Australis_, Wagler.

The figures are of the natural size.

TRICHOGLOSSUS PORPHYROCEPHALUS: _Diet:_

_J. & E. Gould del._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

TRICHOGLOSSUS PORPHYROCEPHALUS, _Diet._
Porphyry-crowned Lorikeet.

_Psittacus purpurea_, Diet., Phil. Mag. 1832, vol. xi. p. 387.

_Psittacus purpureus_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., vol. x. p. 747.

_Trichoglossus porphyrocephalus_, Diet., Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. xvii.
p. 553.

_Psittacula Florentis_, Bourj. de St. Hil., Supp. Le Vaill. Hist. des
Perr., pl. 84.

_Kȍw-ar_, Aborigines of Western Australia.

This handsome little Lorikeet was first brought before the notice of the scientific world by Mr. Dietrichsen at the Meeting of the Linnean Society, held on the 20th of March, 1832; some confusion, however, exists as to the name then proposed for it. In a report of the Meeting published in the “Philosophical Magazine” for the same year it is called _Psittacus purpurea_; but in the seventeenth volume of the “Linnean Transactions” it is correctly placed in the genus _Trichoglossus_, with the far more appropriate specific appellation of _porphyrocephalus_, which I therefore retain.

Although the Porphyry-crowned Lorikeet has been thus long described, it is still very rarely to be seen in collections, a fact which may be accounted for by the circumstance of its being an inhabitant of those parts of Australia with which we have hitherto had little intercourse.

It is not found in New South Wales, and I do not recollect ever having seen it in collections from any of the eastern parts. It is abundant in South Australia, is equally numerous in the white-gum forests of Swan River, and in all probability is dispersed over the whole of the intermediate country. It is the only species of the genus I have seen from Western Australia, a circumstance which cannot be accounted for, since the face of the country is covered with trees of a similar character.

Most of the specimens I collected were shot during the months of June and July in the neighbourhood of Adelaide, and some of them in the town itself. It appears to arrive in this district at the flowering season of the _Eucalypti_, in company with _Trichoglossus Swainsonii_, _concinnus_ and _pusillus_, all of which may frequently be seen on the same tree at one time: the incessant clamour kept up by multitudes of these birds baffles description; the notes of the larger species are, however, distinguishable by their superiority in harshness and loudness; they feed together in perfect amity, and it is not unusual to see two or three species on the same branch. They are all so remarkably tame, that any number of shots may be fired amongst them without causing the slightest alarm to any but those that are actually wounded. Although strictly gregarious, they appear to be always mated in pairs, which accompany each other in their various movements among the branches. The whole of one species frequently leave the tree simultaneously, rushing off with amazing quickness in search of other trees laden with newly-expanded flowers, among which they dash and commence feeding with the utmost eagerness, clinging and creeping among the branches in every possible attitude. As this tribe of birds depends solely for its subsistence upon the flowers of the gum-trees, their presence in any locality would be vainly sought for at any season when those trees are not in blossom.

The sexes are precisely alike in size and in the colour of their plumage.

Forehead, lores and ear-coverts yellow, intermingled with scarlet; crown of the head deep purple; back of the head and neck yellowish green; wing-coverts and rump grass-green; shoulder light blue; under surface of the wing crimson; primaries blackish brown, margined externally with deep green, the extreme edge being greenish yellow; tail green above, golden beneath; throat and under surface greenish grey, passing into golden green on the flanks and under tail-coverts; bill black; irides in some dark brown, in others light reddish brown, with a narrow ring of orange round the pupil; feet bluish flesh-colour.

The figures are of the natural size.

TRICHOGLOSSUS PUSILLUS: _Vig. & Horsf._

_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

TRICHOGLOSSUS PUSILLUS, _Vig. and Horsf._
Little Parrakeet.

_Psittacus pusillus_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 106.—Shaw, Gen.
Zool., vol. viii. p. 471.—Kuhl, Nova Acta, tom. x. p. 47.

_Perruche à face rouge_, Le Vaill. Perr., tom. i. p. 124. pl. 62.

_Small Parrakeet_, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 88.

_Small Paroquet_, _Psittacus pusillus_, Shaw in White’s Journ., pl. in
p. 262.

_Small Parrot_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 194.

_Trichoglossus pusillus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
293.—Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., tom. i. pp. 493 and 548.

_Lathamus pusillus_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 206.

_Jerryang_, Aborigines of New South Wales.

This familiar species, the least of the Australian _Psittacidæ_ yet discovered, enjoys a range of habitat precisely similar to that of the _Trichoglossus concinnus_, being dispersed over the whole of New South Wales, South Australia and Van Diemen’s Land; it is, however, more sparingly diffused over the latter country. I found it tolerably abundant and killed several specimens on Maria Island, near the entrance of Storm Bay. On the continent of Australia it is not only to be found in the same districts and at the same seasons of the year as _T. concinnus_, but it is more frequently observed in company with that species than alone; flocks of each often occupying the same tree, and even the same branch, all busily engaged in extracting their nectarine food. Like its near ally, the present bird creeps about under and among the leaves with the greatest facility, and like the other members of the group, appears to be always associated in pairs. As might be expected from the structure of its wing, which is admirably adapted for rapid progression, it flies through the air with arrow-like swiftness.

I succeeded in finding the breeding-places of this species, and on the 11th of October 1839, procured four eggs from a hole in a small branch of a lofty _Eucalyptus_, growing on the flats at Yarrundi on the Upper Hunter. The eggs were white and of an oval form, nine lines and a half long by seven lines and a half broad.

In Western Australia this species is represented by the _Trichoglossus porphyrocephalus_, and on the north coast by the _T. versicolor_. It would appear to inosculate with its western ally in South Australia, both being equally numerous there, around, and even upon the trees within the city of Adelaide.

The sexes are similar in plumage and differ but little in size; the female is, however, rather more diminutive than her mate.

Face deep red; back of the neck brown; all the remainder of the plumage grass-green; primaries, secondaries and greater coverts black, margined externally with grass-green; two centre tail-feathers and outer webs of the remainder grass-green; the inner webs of the lateral feathers fine red at the base, passing into greenish yellow towards the tip; bill black; cere and orbits dark olive-brown; irides orange, surrounded by a narrow line of yellow.

The figures are of the natural size.

PTILINOPUS SWAINSONII: _Gould_.

_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del^t._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]

PTILINOPUS SWAINSONII, _Gould_.
Swainson’s Fruit Pigeon.

_Ptilinopus purpuratus_, var. Regina, Swains. Zool. Journ., vol. i. p.
474?

_Columba purpurata_, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. ii. pl. 70.

_Ptilinopus Swainsonii_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., February 8,
1842.

Considerable confusion has existed respecting the very beautiful birds constituting the genus _Ptilinopus_, as to whether they are so many species or merely varieties, and I quite agree with Messrs. Jardine and Selby when they say in their ‘Illustrations’ above quoted, “We strongly suspect that more than one species is involved among these different varieties, which some one in possession of them may hereafter be enabled to determine; and their varied geographical distribution tends considerably to strengthen this opinion.” There are in fact several species of this beautiful form so closely allied that at a casual glance they would be considered as identical, but on a careful comparison their specific differences will be clearly perceived. At least two of them are natives of Australia, the remainder being distributed over the Indian and Polynesian Islands. The present bird has by many authors been considered either as identical with or as a mere variety of the _Columba purpurata_, Auct., but if compared with that species it will be found to possess characters sufficiently different to warrant its being characterized as distinct; I have therefore named it after Mr. Swainson, the author of the genus to which it belongs, as a slight testimony of the respect I entertain for the talents of one who has done so much towards the advancement of ornithology, at once the most interesting and popular branch of the science of natural history.

The specimens from which my figures were taken are from the brushes of the River Clarence, situated between the Hunter and Moreton Bay; in the last-mentioned district it is tolerably abundant, the dense and luxuriant brushes affording it a congenial habitat and breeding-place. I have received both the young and the adults from this locality, but as I have never myself seen them in a state of nature, I am unable to give any account of their habits or economy. The sexes are so nearly alike in colouring that dissection alone can distinguish them with certainty.