90 



AN AUSTRALIAN BIRD BOOK. 



189 Banksian Cockatoo, Banksian Black Cockatoo, C. 

 banksi, E.A., S.A. r. timber 



Glossy greenish-black; vermilion-red band on tail; f., yellow 

 side of head, neck. Caterpillars, seeds. 



24 



Blue Mountain Parrot, very common at times, is a giant of the 

 family. It has been described as a "noble bird/ gorgeously 

 apparelled." Its vernacular name of Blue-bellied Lorikeet has 

 been altered to Blue Mountain Lorikeet. We found these birds 

 nesting in the big sugar-gums bordering Warunda Creek, Eyre 

 Peninsula. They keenly and noisily resented our curiosity, and 

 screeched much as we tried to discover them amongst the green 

 foliage. Though so gaudy, they were picked out with difficulty. 

 This bird was very troublesome in my garden at Bengworden, near 

 the Gippsland Lakes, where, when the apples were about the size 

 of marbles, they tore them to pieces to get the developing 

 "pips." In common with the other members of the family, they 

 have a swift, direct flight, and screech much when flying. The 

 "Green Keets," generally called "Green Leeks," which are so very 

 numerous at times, are often accompanied by two other Lorikeets, 

 the Little and Purple-crowned Lorikeets. These green birds 

 hang, head down, among the eucalyptus leaves, and brush up the 

 honey from the flowers with their brush tongue. They follow the 

 flowering of the eucalypts from district to district, and since the 

 eucalypts flower at irregular intervals, these birds are not so 

 regular in their movements as Swifts, Snipe, Curlews, Cuckoos, 



