LINES OF MIGRATORY FLIGHT 163 



eucalyptus, on whose flowers they depend for food. 

 In New South Wales in favorable years T. P. Austin 

 has found the musk lorikeet {Glossopsitta concinnd) 

 arriving by thousands with the blossoming of these 

 trees. At times they soon disappear, though in some 

 years a part remain to breed. In other seasons very 

 few are seen. Similar habits are recorded for the 

 little \or\\Lttt {Glossopsitta pus ilia) in the same region. 

 The cockatoo parrot {Leptolophus hollandicus) 

 comes usually to Victoria in summer, while the grass 

 parrakeet {Melopsittacus undulatus) is found to be 

 irregularly migrant in many localities. Like the 

 lorikeets, certain of the honey-eaters (Meliphagidae) 

 shift about with the flowering of eucalyptus, and 

 are present or absent in accordance with the status 

 of these trees. 



The arrival of birds in abundance with the com- 

 ing of rains has been recorded on numerous occa- 

 sions in the more arid sections, while it is stated 

 that, if proper conditions continue, these birds breed 

 and may continue their presence for two or three 

 years. The condition is highly peculiar, in that 

 the nomadic habit is not confined to a few species 

 as in the northern hemisphere, but is widespread 

 and dominant among non-sedentary forms, so that 

 it supplants the regular north and south movements 

 found in other continents except in a comparatively 

 few forms. It differs from regular migration in that 



