Part 4

The male has the head, neck and all the under surface scarlet; back and wings green, the inner webs of the primaries and secondaries being black; along the scapularies a broad line of pale verdigris-green; a line bounding the scarlet at the back of the neck, the rump and upper tail-coverts rich deep blue; tail black; pupil large and black; irides narrow and yellow; bill scarlet; legs mealy brown.

The female has the head and all the upper surface green; throat and chest green tinged with red; abdomen and under tail-coverts scarlet; rump dull blue; two centre tail-feathers green; the remainder green, passing into bluish black; and with a rose-coloured spot at the extremity on the under surface.

The young male for the first two years resembles the female, which is doubtless the cause why so few birds are seen in the bright red dress, compared with those having a green head and chest.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

APROSMICTUS ERYTHROPTERUS. Red-winged Lory.

_Psittacus erythropterus_, Gmel. Syst., vol. i. p. 343.—Kuhl, Nova Acta, vol. x. p. 53.—Quoy et Gaim. Zool. de la Voy. autour du Monde, pl. 27.—Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 126.

_Psittacus melanotus_, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 653.—Ib. Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 467.

_Crimson-winged Parrot_, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. i. p. 299; and Supp. p. 60.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 253.

_Platycercus erythropterus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 284.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 208.—Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., tom. i. pp. 492 and 536.—Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p. 123.

_Aprosmictus erythropterus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., August 9, 1842.

This beautiful Lory is very widely distributed over the greater portion of the continent of Australia, and its range also extends to New Guinea and Timor; I must not, however, fail to remark, that specimens from the latter countries, as well as those from Port Essington, are smaller in all their admeasurements than those from the southern and eastern portions of Australia; no difference whatever exists in the markings or colouring of the individuals from all these various localities, I am therefore induced to consider them as so many races of the same bird, rather than as distinct species.

In Australia, the Red-winged Lory, so far as my observation has enabled me to judge, is as exclusively an inhabitant of the interior of the country as its near ally the King Lory is a denizen of the thick brushes which extend along the coast, both, as is always the case, being beautifully adapted to the character of country they are respectively destined to inhabit. The extensive belts of _Acacia pendula_ which stretch over and diversify the arid plains of the great Australian basin, are tenanted with thousands of this bird, besides numerous other species, roaming about either in small companies of six or eight, or in flocks of a much greater number. It is beyond the power of my pen to describe or give a just idea of the extreme beauty of the appearance of the Red-winged Lory when seen among the silvery branches of the Acacia, particularly when the flocks comprise a large number of adult males, the gorgeous scarlet of whose shoulders offers so striking a contrast to the surrounding objects. It is rather thinly dispersed among the trees skirting the rivers which intersect the Liverpool Plains, but from thence towards the interior it increases in number, and probably extends over the whole of the interior, for it is as abundant at Port Essington on the north coast as it is on the southern: I have also received it from South Australia and the north-west coast, but not as yet from Swan River. In its actions and disposition it has much of the character of the King Lory, being morose and indocile: as it is naturally shy and wary, it is much more difficult of approach than the generality of the Parrots; and although the contrary is sometimes the case, it seldom becomes tame or familiar in captivity.

Its powers of flight are fully adequate and in every way adapted to the extensive plains it is destined to inhabit, enabling it readily to pass, frequently at a great height in the air, from one part of the plain to another. Its flight is, however, performed with a motion of the wings totally different from that of any other member of the great family of _Psittacidæ_ I have seen, and has frequently reminded me of the heavy flapping manner of the Pewit, except that the flapping motion was even slower and more laboured, like that of the Terns. It has a loud screeching piercing cry, which it frequently utters during flight.

Its food consists of berries, the fruits of a species of _Loranthus_, and the pollen of flowers, to which is added a species of scaly bug-like insect, which infests the branches of its favourite trees; in all probability small caterpillars also form a part, as I have found them in the crops of several of the _Platycerci_.

It breeds in the holes of the large Eucalypti growing on the banks of rivers; the eggs, which are white, being four or five in number, about an inch and an eighth long by seven-eighths broad.

The sexes, as will be seen in the accompanying Plate, differ very considerably in the colouring of their plumage; the young males during the first two years cannot be distinguished from the female, except by dissection.

The male has the head and back of the neck verditer green; throat, all the under surface, edge of the shoulder and upper tail-coverts bright yellowish green; back black; rump lazuline blue; wing-coverts deep rich crimson-red; scapularies dark green, tipped with black; primaries black at the base, with the external webs and the apical portion of the inner webs deep green; secondaries black, edged with deep green, and one or two with a tinge of red at the tip; tail green above, passing into yellow at the tip, the extreme end fringed with pink; under surface of the tail black, tipped with yellow and pink as above; irides reddish orange in some, scarlet in others; bill rich orange-scarlet; feet olive-brown.

The female has the head and upper surface dull green; under surface dull yellowish green; a few of the wing-coverts crimson-red, forming a stripe down the wing; rump pale verditer blue; tail-feathers more largely tipped with pink than in the male; irides olive-brown; bill light horn-colour.

The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.

PLATYCERCUS SEMITORQUATUS, _Quoy and Gaim._ Yellow-collared Parrakeet.

_Psittacus semitorquatus_, Quoy and Gaim.

_Dȍw-arn_, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.

_Dȕm-ul-uk_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western Australia.

_Twenty-eight Parrakeet_, Colonists of Swan River.

This very noble species of _Platycercus_ is abundantly dispersed over the greater portion of Western Australia, where it inhabits almost every variety of situation, sometimes searching for food upon the ground like the rest of its congeners, and at others on the trees; its chief food being either grass-seeds or the hard stoned fruits and seeds peculiar to the trees of the country in which it lives. It is equally as abundant at King George’s Sound as it is at Swan River; I have not been so fortunate as to obtain any precise information as to the extent of its range over the continent, the only parts of the country from which I have received specimens being the two localities mentioned above.

This fine bird, like the rest of the true _Platycerci_, is entirely destitute of the _os furcatum_; hence, like them, its powers of flight are very limited; on the other hand it runs quickly over the surface of the ground, as may be seen by all who have observed the bird in a cage, to which it is often consigned and sent to this country as an ornament for the aviary, which it graces, both by its large size and the richly contrasted colouring of its plumage. While on the wing its motion is tolerably rapid, and it often utters a note, which from its resemblance to those words has procured for it the appellation of “twenty-eight” Parrakeet from the colonists; the last word or note being sometimes repeated five or six times in succession.

It begins breeding in the latter part of September or beginning of October, making no nest, but depositing its eggs in a hole in either a gum- or mahogany-tree, on the soft black dust collected at the bottom; they are from seven to nine in number and of a pure white.

The sexes may be distinguished by the much smaller size of the female, and by her markings being much less distinct.

Forehead crossed by a narrow band of crimson; head blackish brown, passing into blue on the cheeks; back of the neck encircled by a band of bright yellow; back and upper surface generally deep grass-green, passing into pale green on the shoulders; primaries and spurious wing blackish brown, the external webs of each feather deep blue; two centre tail-feathers deep grass-green, the next on each side the same passing into blue and ending in bluish white at the tip; the lateral feathers green at the base passing into blue, which gradually fades into bluish white at the tip; chest green; under surface light green; irides dark brown; bill light horn-colour, becoming of a lead-colour on the front of the upper mandible; legs and feet dark brown.

The Plate represents the birds of the natural size.

PLATYCERCUS BAUERI, _Vig. and Horsf._ Bauer’s Parrakeet.

_Psittacus Baueri_, Temm. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 118.—Donovan’s Nat. Repos., pl 64.

_Psittacus cyanomelus_, Kuhl. Consp. Psitt, in Nov. Act., vol. x. p. 53.

_Bauer’s Parrot_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 120.

_Platycercus Baueri_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 283.—Lear’s Ill. Psitt. pl. 17.—Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p. 121.

_Platycercus zonarius_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., p. 538.

_Psittacus zonarius_, Shaw’s Nat. Misc., pl. 657.—Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Nov. Act., tom. i.

_Psittacus viridis_, Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 465.

_Nanodes? zonarius_, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p. 119.

The Bauer’s Parrakeet, although nearly allied to the _Platycercus semitorquatus_ possesses several characters by which it may be distinguished from that species; in the first place it is much less in size, and in the next it has a brighter and more contrasted style of plumage, the green of the under surface of which is relieved by a gorgeous band of bright yellow across the abdomen; the rich band of scarlet which ornaments the front of the _P. semitorquatus_, is also wanting in the present bird, or if not entirely, the slightest indication of it and that only in the finest old males is to be seen. The only portion of Australia from which I have received specimens of this bird, is Port Lincoln, a harbour visited by Flinders, and where the original specimen in the Linnean Society’s Collection was obtained. In habits and disposition it doubtless closely assimilates to the _P. semitorquatus_, but on these points no information has yet been obtained. The sexes present a similar contrast in the lesser size and less brilliant style of colouring of the female. I need scarcely add that this species was named by M. Temminck in honour of the late Mr. Ferdinand Bauer, who formed one of the expedition under the command of Captain Flinders, and whose researches as a naturalist are too well known to need any further commendation from me. I am indebted to my much-valued friend J. B. Harvey, Esq., formerly of Teignmouth, but now resident at Port Lincoln, for the specimens from which my figures were taken, as also for examples of many other valuable species.

Head and upper part of the neck black, the cheek-feathers tipped with deep blue; at the back of the neck a broad crescent of bright yellow; chest, back and wings dark green, passing into verditer green on the outer webs of the wing-coverts; rump and upper tail-coverts grass-green; two centre tail-feathers deep green, the next on each side deep green, tipped with bluish white, the remainder deep green at the base, passing into bluish white, the blue on the outer margins of the feathers being of lazuline hue; centre of the abdomen deep gamboge-yellow; remainder of the under surface yellowish grass-green; primaries, secondaries and spurious wing-coverts black, with the base of their external webs rich deep blue; bill horn-colour; feet dark brown.

The Plate represents the two sexes about the natural size.

PLATYCERCUS BARNARDI, _Vig. and Horsf._ Barnard’s Parrakeet.

_Barnard’s Parrot_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 121.

_Platycercus Barnardi_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 283.—Lear’s Ill. Psitt., pl. 18.—Bourj. de St. Hil. Supp. Le Vaill. Hist. des Parr., pl. 32.—Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., p. 528.

The _Platycercus Barnardi_ is one of the most beautiful of the genus inhabiting Australia; the accompanying Plate, whereon I have endeavoured to portray it as faithfully as possible, will give some idea of the brilliancy of its appearance: but to see it in perfection and to observe its rich plumage in all its glory, the native country of the bird must be visited, its forests penetrated, its brooks and streamlets traced; for it is principally growing on the banks of the latter, either among the “high-flooded gums,” or the larger shrub-like trees along the edges of the streams, that this beautiful species is seen, the brilliant hues of its expanded wings and tail appearing like a meteor as it passes from tree to tree amidst the dark glades of the forest.

The range of Barnard’s Parrakeet extends throughout the great basin of the interior from South Australia to New South Wales, but it seldom appears within the boundary of the latter colony; I never met with it nearer than the Liverpool Plains, from whence northwards towards the interior its numbers increased, and it doubtless inhabits the banks of the Darling and all other rivers of the interior which embogue into Lake Alexandrina, and in confirmation of this opinion I may state that I found it to be equally as abundant in the Great Murray scrub of South Australia as on the banks of the Namoi. It is generally met with in small companies of from five to ten in number, sometimes on the ground among the tall grasses, at others among the high trees, particularly the _Eucalypti_.

The sexes differ so little in colour that it is difficult to distinguish them, the males are, however, at all times the largest and finest in plumage.

I did not succeed in obtaining the eggs of this species, although it was breeding in all the large trees of the different parts of the country I visited; but I succeeded in procuring some fine living specimens of the bird, a pair of which I brought to England, and which were I believe the first that had been introduced. As cage-birds they are equally as domesticable and familiar as the other _Platycerci_ and are very ornamental and attractive; my ever-valued friend the Earl of Derby did me the honour to accept these interesting birds, and one if not both of them still continue to grace his Lordship’s magnificent aviary at Knowseley.

Forehead red; crown, cheeks, chest, abdomen, central portion of wing, and rump verditer green; occiput crossed by a band of brown, succeeded by a crescent-shaped mark of yellow; back bluish grey; centre of the abdomen crossed by a broad crescent of orange; primaries and spurious wing black; the external margin of each feather, and the tip of the shoulder rich deep blue; two central tail-feathers deep green, passing into deep blue at the tip; the lateral feathers deep blue at the base, gradually fading into bluish white at the tip; bill horn-colour; feet brown.

The Plate represents the two sexes about the natural size.

PLATYCERCUS ADELAIDIÆ, _Gould_. Adelaide Parrakeet.

_Platycercus Adelaidiæ_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 163.

_Pheasant Parrot_, Colonists of South Australia.

This beautiful _Platycercus_ is a native of South Australia, and from the circumstance of my having procured some of my finest specimens in the very streets of that embryo city, I have been induced to give it the specific name of _Adelaidiæ_. In all probability the bird may in a few years be looked for in vain in the suburbs of this rapidly increasing settlement, as it is too large a species and possesses too many attractions to remain unmolested; indeed it is even now much persecuted and destroyed by the newly-arrived emigrants, who kill it either for mere sport or for the table; for, like the other _Platycerci_, all of which feed on grass-seeds, it is excellent eating.

The _Platycercus Adelaidiæ_ at first caused me considerable perplexity from its close similarity in some stages of its plumage to the _P. Pennantii_; as in that species the plumage of the young for the first season is wholly green, which colouring gradually gives place to red on the head, rump, and upper surface, the scapularies and back feathers being margined with the same hue, a character of plumage which soon disappears and gives place to dull yellow on the flanks and olive-yellow on the upper surface, the scapularies and back feathers in the mature dress being edged with yellowish buff and violet. It was only by killing at least a hundred examples in all their various stages of plumage, from the nestling to the adult, that I was enabled to determine the fact of its being a new and distinct species. In all its dimensions it is less than the Pennantian.

I found the present species plentiful on the banks of the river Torrens, throughout its whole course, as well as over all the low grassy hills between that river and the Murray. It was in winter that I visited this portion of Australia, when I found the adults associated in small groups of from six to twenty in number; while near the coast, between Holdfast Bay and the Port of Adelaide, the young in the green dress were assembled in flocks of hundreds; they were generally on the ground in search of grass-seeds, and when so occupied would admit of a near approach: when flushed they merely flew up to the branches of the nearest tree: it is impossible to conceive anything more beautiful than the rising of a flock of adults, spreading out their beautiful broad blue tails and wings, which glittering in the sun present a really magnificent spectacle.

The note is a loud, piping whistle.

The fully adult male has the crown of the head, lores, sides of the neck, breast and centre of the abdomen scarlet, passing into dull yellow on the flanks; cheeks and wing-coverts light lazuline blue; primaries deep blue, passing into black at the extremity; back of the neck dull yellow; back black, each feather margined with yellowish buff, some of the marginations tinged with blue, others with scarlet; rump and upper tail-coverts dull greenish yellow, the latter sometimes tinged with scarlet; two centre tail-feathers greenish blue; the remainder deep blue at the base, gradually becoming lighter until almost white at the tip; irides brown; bill horn-colour; feet greyish brown.

The figures are those of an adult and an immature bird, in course of change from the green plumage to that adult dress of the natural size.

PLATYCERCUS PENNANTII. Pennant’s Parrakeet.

_Psittacus Pennantii_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 90.

———— _gloriosus_, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 53.

———— _splendidus_, Shaw, Mus., Lev. pl. 7. p. 27.

_Perruche à large queue_, Le Vaill. Hist. Nat. des Perr., pls. 78, 79.

_Pennantian Parrot_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. i. p. 61; vol. ii. p. 83.—Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 154.—White’s Journ., pl. in pp. 174, 175.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 410. pl. 56.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 131.

_Psittacus elegans_, Gmel. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 318.—Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Nova Acta, vol. x. p. 55.

_Platycercus Pennantii_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 280.—Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand. p. 535. pl. 17.—Selb. in Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. vi. Parrots, p. 173. pl. 25.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 208.—Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 146.—G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit. p. 66.

_Dulang_ and _Julang_, Aborigines of New South Wales.

This beautiful bird is very generally dispersed over New South Wales, where it inhabits grassy hills and brushes, particularly those of the Liverpool range and all similar districts. Its food consists of berries and the seeds of various grasses, to obtain which it descends in small companies to the bases of the hills and to the open glades; I have often flushed it from such situations, and when six or eight rose together with outspread tails of beautiful pale blue, offering a decided contrast to the rich scarlet livery of the body, I could never fail to pause and admire the splendour of their appearance, of which no description can give an adequate idea; the _Platycerci_ must, in fact, be seen in their native wilds before their beautiful appearance can be appreciated, or the interesting nature of their habits at all understood. Although I have stated that New South Wales is the true habitat of this bird, I must not fail to record that individuals have come under my notice which had been killed in Norfolk Island; I am led to believe, however, that the bird must have been taken thither from New South Wales, and that a sufficient number had either escaped or been let loose to establish a breed. The habitats of the various _Platycerci_ are generally very restricted; it is not probable therefore that the range of this species extends to an island several hundred miles distant from the main land; how far it may range along the south coast, or to the eastward and northward of New South Wales, I have never satisfactorily ascertained; I have seen it from Kangaroo Island, but I never met with it in the belts of the Murray, or in any of the forests round Adelaide, its place in that part of the country being supplied by the _Platycercus Adelaidiæ_.

As I have said, the food of this species principally consists of berries and grass-seeds, but insects appear occasionally to form a part of its diet, as I found the crop of one specimen filled with small caterpillars; it was, however, a solitary occurrence.

Like the other members of the genus, the _Platycercus Pennantii_ runs rapidly over the ground, but its flight is neither rapid nor enduring. In disposition it is tame and destitute of distrust, and as a pet for the aviary or a cage, few birds can exceed it in interest or beauty; consequently it is one of the commonest of the living parrakeets sent from Australia to this country.

It breeds in the holes of the large gum-trees, generally selecting those on the hill-sides within the brushes; and of such situations, the cedar brushes of the Liverpool range appear to be a favourite locality. The months of September, October and November constitute the breeding season. It makes no nest, but deposits its eggs, which are white, about an inch and two lines long, eleven and a half lines broad, and from four to seven in number, on the rotten wood at the bottom of the hole.