NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



65; 



sexes arc undistinguishnblp outwardly, except that the adult male has 

 the cere or nostrils bluish in roloiir, whilst the same part on the female is 

 brownish. Total length, about 7 A inches. 



Where are the flocks of these lovely little Parrakeets that from the 

 far interior used periodically to visit Victoria and other pai-ts of Southern 

 Australia when the grass seeds were ripening? " Bocavise their primi- 

 tive feeding gi-ounds have been destroyed by the depasturing of other 

 flocks (stock)." is the significant reply of an old and experienced bird 

 trapper. 



The Warbling Grass Parrakeets used to appear in the south about 

 tlie same time as the sprightly Cockatoo Parrakect, namely, about the 

 beginning of August. 



On arriving at Brezi. to the north of Liverpool Plains, in the beginning 

 of December (1839), Gould found himself siuTounded bv numbers of 

 these PaiTakeets, breeding in all the hollow spouts of the large eucalvpta 

 bordering on the Mokai, and in crossing the plains between that river and 

 the Peel, in the direction of the Turi Mountains, he saw them in flocks 

 of thousands. By the end of the month the young were well able to 

 provide for themselves. The birds were first called " Betcherrygah " 

 bv the aborigines of the Livei-pool Plains. 



Rnrelv does the sweet little Shell PaiTakeet or " Betcherrygah " fly 

 south of MelboTU-ne. Tlie late Mr. H. W. Wlieelwiight ha,s stated that, 

 in the middle of the summer of 1854, the gum-trees in the neighbourhood 

 of Mordialloc " swanned with them." They remained about one month, 

 when they suddenly disappeared. 



As cage birds, the "Warbling Grass Parrakeets are general favourites. 

 Gould was one, if not the first, to introduce living examples to Britain, 

 having succeeded in binnging seveival with him on his return in 1840. 



The late Mr. Forbes-Leith states : — " When those charming little 

 Pan-akeets were first taken to England, dealers could not supply the 



demand at fourteen guineas per pair I have known 



these Parrakeets to breed in confinement ; and one pair that escaped in 

 London, about twenty years ago, reared a brood of young in the Temple 

 Gardens." 



Tlie habits of this little Parrakeet coming to water, mentioned by 

 Mr. Ford, and given in connection with the Cockatoo Parrakeet, are 

 substantiated by Mr. R. J. Dalton, who says : " The Warbling Grass 

 Parrakeets have a very peculiar wav of cbnnking. They never land, bvit 

 fly in mobs to water, take a mouthful then circle round, repeating the 

 performance. As each bird is satisfied it drops out, and the mob finally 

 dwindles away." 



Breeding months, August to December. In the Interior they 

 apparentlv sometimes breed diu*ing winter, according to the season, for 

 during the progress of the Horn Scientific Expedition, in the winter of 

 1894. numbers of nests were examined that contained young birds. 



On the Minilga, Western Australia, Mr. T. Carter has taken eggs as 

 early as August, and has seen young in March. He says these little 

 Parrakeets appear to lay after a good rain. 



During the Calvert Expedition (1896) to the North-west, through- 

 out the whole of the country traversed, these birds were noted. 

 42 



