^«'i9^:]'"- Stray Feathers. 321 



seed of Kucalyi)tus (sp.?). It may not be unprofitable to .e^ive 

 a short review of the Parrots, other than the ubiquitous Honey- 

 eaters, which bear relation to, or inhabit this district, the j^eogra- 

 phy of which was referred to in detail in the Eniu, vol. 21, page 

 242; 1922. It is the home of the IMack Cockatoos, both the 

 Yellow-tailed {Calyptorhynchus funereiis), and the Red-tailed 

 Cockatoo (C. ba}iksi), but the White Cockatoo is a rare visitor. 

 From the south we get many Red-headed Rosellas { Platycereiis 

 exiniiiis), but this species does not go .far north, west, or 

 east, being known on the Darling Downs as the Stanthorpe 

 Rosella. There its place is taken by the Pale-headed Rosella (P. 

 adscitus). From the east, following the Dividing Range, which 

 bounds the Downs on the south, we get the King Parrot (Apros- 

 mktits scapularis) , and the Crimson Rosella {P. elec/ans). The 

 former is found on the north and east boundaries only, and does 

 not penetrate our belt proper, whereas P. elegans is very abun- 

 dant, but does not go further west. Neither are at all plentiful 

 on the Downs to our north, and really skirt that district, follow- 

 ing the P>unya IMountains and the scrub-clad ranges which fringe 

 it on the south. The common Parrot on the Downs is P. adscitus\ 

 with a sprinkling of Red-wings (A. erythroptcrus) , Quarrions^ 

 or Cockatoo Parrots ( Leptolophus liollandiciis) , and to a much 

 less degree, of Budgerygahs (Melopsittacus iindidatus). In 

 former years here, too, was found that gem of the Psephotus 

 group, the Paradise Parrot {P. pidcherrimus) , long thought to- 

 be extinct, but recently re-discovered. This, mark well, to our 

 north ; but, as one goes west the Psephotus group becomes 

 strongly evident, and the Red-backed Parrot {P. hccmatonotus) 

 is very common, and in a lesser degree the Blue-bonnet (P. hceina- 

 to(/aster) round Texas. It is from this latter district, if any, 

 lying at the foothills, and yet in the western country, that one 

 will exi)ect further news, if it ever comes, of those rare species 

 — the afore-mentioned Tur(|uoise Parrot (Neophema pidchella) 

 and the Paradise Parrot {P. pidcherrimus). 



The following conclusions can therefore be arrived at so far 

 as Stanthorpe and its Granite Belt is concerned, whether it is 

 regarded simply as a given point on the New South Wales- 

 Oueensland border, or as the north-west passage from the interior 

 into Eastern New South Wales : — It is the point of contact of the 

 Ked-headed and Pale-headed Rosellas. The King Parrot and 

 Red Lory do not go past it after reaching it from the east ; it 

 is therefore their western limit on this particular line. The 

 Psephotus group stops short on its western limits after reaching- 

 it from the west. It is the bar on which the surge of Galahs, 

 Cockatoo Parrots, Budgerygahs, Red-wings, breaks from the 

 west and north, and fails almost to wet with spray. The wash 

 goes north ^nd south, but never over, and these, like the 

 voyageurs of old, find the North-west Passage impassable.— Dr, 

 Spencer Roberts, R.A.O.U. 



