PS1TTACID.E, 309 



Tlie birds composing tliis sub -family are mostly 

 found in Australia^ wliere they inliabit shrubby or 

 bushy places^ and are usually seen on the ground 

 searching for the seeds of the grasses on which they 

 subsist. When disturbed^ tliey generally seek safety 

 by a rapid flight, continued for a short distance, to 

 the nearest trees, where they remain perched till 

 the cause of their alarm has disappeared. Some 

 species, met with most numerously in India, fre- 

 quent the jungles and are often to be seen on culti- 

 vated ground and in gardens, where they commit 

 great devastation, devouring various kinds of grain 

 and fruits. During their migrations they generally 

 keep close to the tops of the large trees, and on 

 discovering food, take a short circle round the tree 

 with a steady sailing flight, and, alighting on the 

 branches, speedily commence their attack on the 

 fruit. 



A well-known species is — 



The Beautiful Ground-Parrot {Pezoporas forjuosus). It 

 is never seen to fly into a tree, or to take shelter among 

 the branches, so tJiat it is uncertain whether it possesses 

 the power of perching. It usually frequents sandy sterile 

 districts covered with tufts of rank grass and herbage, or 

 low swampy flats abounding with rushes, where, from its 

 very restless habits and great powers of running, it is 

 seldom seen until it is flushed, and then only for a short 

 time, as it soon alights and runs off to a place of seclusion, 

 often under the cover of the Grass-tree {^Xanthorrhcaa), 

 that abounds in tlie districts it frequents. It flies near 

 the ground with great rapidity, often making several 

 zigzag turns in the short distance of a hundred yards, 

 beyond which it seldom passes without resting on the 

 ground. Its flesh is excellent, being much more delicate 

 than that of the Snipe, and equalling, if not surpassing, 

 in flavour that of the Quail. ] ts white eggs are deposited 

 on the ground. This species is met with both in Aus- 

 tralia and Yan Diemen's Land. 



The typical form is — 



The Horned Ground-Parrot (Platycercus cornutm), of 

 which a flgure is ui\'en above 

 p '6 



