AN AUSTRALIAN BIRD BOOK. 99 



coming common, for I have lately seen it flying about in towns, 

 notably in the Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, the Zoological Gar- 

 dens, Melbourne, and the school yard at Wangaratta. 



The Yellow Parrakeet, with its blue cheeks, is a "harmony in 

 blue and canary yellow, and is an exceedingly lovely bird." It 

 is unfortunately rare. 



The next bird is one of our well-known cage pets — the beauti- 

 ful Ringneck — the Mallee Parrot. It flies ahead of one along 

 the half-chain strip of scrub left on mallee roads, and is a feature 

 of interest. 



The next group contains some inland parrots. The "Bull- 

 oak," or "Blue Bonnet," is a beautiful bird, and is common on 

 inland plains. It has a brownish-olive back and a gray 

 chest. The bright, blue cheeks, forehead, and shoulder, 

 red abdomen, and light yellow base to tail present a striking ap- 

 pearance. Its vernacular name — Yellow-vented Parrakeet — has 

 now been altered to Blue Bonnet Parrot. 



The Many-colored Parrot, with its large yellow shoulder 

 patch, is a glory. It is, indeed, difficult to imagine a more beau- 

 tiful bird as it flies about in the bright Mallee sunshine. The 

 Red-backed Parrot is the common "Grass Parrot" of country 

 dwellers. Large flocks of these birds are to be seen on the 

 inland plains. The female is much plainer than her gaudy mate. 

 This is unusual amongst parrots; for, as the work of sitting on 

 the eggs is done in a hollow tree under good shelter, there is 

 apparently no reason why the female should be plainer than 

 the male, and in most parrots she is equally pretty. 



The brownish female offers a strong contrast to her more 

 brightly coloured mate, which is immediately distinguished by 

 the large red patch on the back. (The Many-colored Parrot 

 has a much smaller red patch on the back, near the base of the 

 tail.) 



The seven small Grass-Parrots (Neophemas) are amongst the 

 most beautiful of parrots. These birds have become so rare that 

 the South Australian Government has wisely placed them on the 

 totally-protected list. Bird trappers formerly exported numbers 

 to Europe each year. These rare Parrots are said to be worth 

 about £7 each as cage birds. 



We found the rare Rock Parrot nesting in the edges and hollows 

 of a tiny travertine-limestone island (Goat Island) in an inlet at 

 the eastern end of the Great Australian Bight. The eggs were 

 laid on the bare earth, often within two or three feet of high- 

 tide mark. The whole island v/as less than an acre in extent, 

 and at no point was ten feet above high-tide level. Many simi- 

 lar islands on the Australian coast have not yet been explored 

 ornithologically, so we do not know what matters of interest are 

 awaiting us. 



The next bird, the Swift-flying Lorikeet, is a honey feeder, like 

 the first four Parrots (Lorikeets) mentioned. It is often found 

 with them, and was common all the winter, and is common now 

 in a clump of flowering gums outside the Melbourne Cricltet 



