648 NESTS AXD EGGS OE AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



Breeding months August, September and October, and probably 

 later. As soon as the j'oung are feathered the sexes can be 

 distinguished — the male by his yellow shoulders, the female by her 

 dull-red. 



519. PSEPHOTUS H^MATONOTUS, Gould. (431) 



RED-BACKED PARRAKEET. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v., pi. 36. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xx., p. 567. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould : Birds of Australia (1848) , 

 also Handbook, vol. ii., p. 70 (1865) ; North : Austn. Mus. 

 Cat., p. 262 (1889). 



Geographical Distribution. — South Queensland, New South Wales, 

 Victoria and South Australia. 



Nest. — Within a hole or hollow trunk of a tree, in open forest. 



Et/gs. — Clutch, six to eight; roundish in shape; texture of shell 

 fine ; surface glossy ; coloiu', pure white, occasionally stained or soiled 

 with the wood dust of the nest. Dimensions in inches of selected 

 pairs: A(l) -95 x -79, (2) •94x-7-7; B(l) -99 x -73, (2) -92 x -72. 



Observafioiin. — The familiar Red-backed Parrakeet is probably the 

 most common of the graceful genus Pisi'phutus, and is found in tlie 

 inland or interior tracts of Eastern Australia, where at some seasons, 

 especially during winter, they congregate in flocks of from 150 to 200 

 birds, making a harvest for bird catchers. On account of its 

 spending most of its time on the gi-ound, it is often called the " grass " 

 Parrot. It makes a good cage bird, its musical whistling notes, as 

 Gould remarks, almost approach a song. 



Mr. John Ramsay has taken the eggs of this species as early as 

 2nd September (1868), at Cardington, on the Bell River. 



An incomplete set of four eggs I took from a small dead tree near 

 Pyramid Hill, Victoria, 7th October, 1887. On the same date I saw 

 anotlier nest with three yoimg in down, proving these birds breed early 

 for Parrots. The eggs are common in collections. 



The female of this graceful Parrakeet appears solely to perform 

 the task of incubation. I have watched her mate feeding her in or 

 near the nesting hole. He performs the operation somewhat after the 

 manner of a common Pigeon feeding its young, by connecting beaks 

 and discharging at intervals the contents of its crop with spasmodic 

 jerks, while the female keeps up a continual hissing noise. 



Breeding months, end of August or September to December. 



