QO Stray Feathers. [^j. 



Emu 

 t Oct. 



bills or to eat the tender buds I am not sure, because the 

 moment they are noticed the gun is brought out. Last year 

 on two occasions a few short rows of garden peas were planted. 

 Not being closely watched, as the sprouts appeared " pretty 

 Joeys " hooked up every one. More could be said concerning 

 this lovely creature, but it has been dwelt on long enough, so by 

 way of an appropriate ending, the plough with the axe has 

 enlarged its empire to such an extent that extinction is an 

 impossibility. 



Crimson Parrakeet {Platycerais elegans). — As far back as 

 can be remembered this bird was called the " Lory." I can 

 remember it on the Plenty River, where my father was overseer 

 to Mr. E. T. Flintoff on what is now Oldstead, near Greens- 

 borough. It was about the year 1843 that 1 saw Mr. Batey 

 throw a stick at a flock of these Parrots, either on a newly-sown 

 paddock or alongside of cornstacks. It is highly probable that 

 they are not to be found there now. P. elegans is one of those 

 birds that has been pushed back by settlement — not a matter to 

 be wondered at, because, as far as my observation has gone, it 

 displays a partiality for thickly timbered tracts. In passing 

 through a large extent of the Black Forest, near Mt. Macedon 

 (though all useful timber is cut down, in parts it is dense enough 

 to this day, owing to the fact of natural replacement), where 

 real forest gloom prevails, if a Parrot is to be seen it is bound 

 to be P. elegans. Herein it differs from the Rosella, a creature 

 that may be termed a bird of sunshine, seeing that it has a 

 leaning towards open forest country. By the way, one year, 

 near Lancefield, season now forgotten, some Crimson Parrakeets 

 were feeding in eucalypts, which to the best of my recollection 

 were not in flower. One or two birds were knocked over, 

 and when cooked were unpleasant eating — rather a surprise to 

 me, because at other times I had found them as good as 

 Rosellas. 



Hybrid (.'' Gould's Platycerais igm'ttis). — My first knowledge 

 of this Parrot was derived from Mr. James Notman, of Mt. 

 William, near Lancefield, in 1882. He described it as a cross 

 between a Rosella and a Crimson Parrakeet as far as colour was 

 concerned. From where his old homestead stands a wide 

 valley is crossed, then a low ridge, and after that a blind 

 creek. In this we are going to Kilmore. Mr. Notman, in 

 speaking of those Parrots, said — " I have never seen them on 

 this side of the creek," meaning, of course, Mt. William side. I 

 subsequently saw the specimen, and observed that my in- 

 formant's description was correct in that it appeared a 

 hybrid. Latterly, visiting the National Museum, I saw 

 similar birds. — ISAAC Batev. Drouin. [Mr. Batey's interest- 

 ing remarks were read at the June meeting of the B.O.C. — 

 Eds.] 



