94 AN AUSTRALIAN BIRD BOOK. 



one sheet of a delicate gray Invender, and the next instant a flash 

 of brilliant salmon-pink, as the whole company turns and wheels, 

 obedient to some command or signal unperceived by us; again, 

 the sun lights up the pale-pink crests and gray backs, as they turn 

 once more and wheel, screeching, to continue their evolutions fur- 

 ther afield. It is a sight that lingers in the memory. They are 

 charming pets, and some talk well. Their beauty adds charm to 

 our almost perfectly level great inland plains. 



The delicately-colored and friendly Cockatoo Parrot, with its 

 immovable crest, takes a sub-family to itself. It migrates from 

 the North, and, in a dry year, may even reach the South 

 Coast. In 1908 some of these birds reached Colac, in Southern 

 Victoria. They are favorite aviary birds, and thousands have 

 been exported. 



In the true Parrot family, Australia is strongly represented by 

 many beautiful birds. The first is the Bnrrnband Parrakeet of 

 Gould, and the Green Leek of some ornithologists. As the name 

 Green Leek is practically in universal use for the Musk Lorikeet 

 (Green Keet) of the ornithologist, it seems desirable to sink an 

 inappropriate name into a synonym, and use the earlier name. 

 Superb Parrot, for it is a beautiful bird. Sad to say, it has 

 become exceedingly rare, though Mr. A. W. Milligan informed 

 me, a few days ago, that he saw six fly into some pines at Black 

 Rock one day this month (January, 1911). 



The Rock Pebble, or Smoker, of the country dweller, formally 

 called the Black-tailed Parrot, is a fine bird. His tail, however, 

 is not really black, but is strongly iridescent. He nested in num- 

 bers, at the beginning of the nineties, in the dead box-trees in 

 Lake Corrong. After an early tea, we frequently went over to 

 the lake and watched the birds feeding their young. No longer 

 do they inhabit that district, which has been completely cleared 

 and placed under cultivation. 



The big King Parrot is a "showy, noble species," and is still 

 common in parts, especially the moist forest districts. 



The members of the next group form a sub-family — the Broad- 

 tails — confined to Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the 

 Pacific Islands. Judging by their names, they must be amongst 

 the most beautiful of birds. The best known is the common 

 Rosella, often quoted in European books as one of the most beau- 

 tiful of birds. Its scientific name is eximius, which means ex- 

 cellent. Indeed, the scientific names of Australian parrots give 

 a good indication of their place amongst the glories of the bird 

 world. The cousin of the Rosella — the large blue-winged and 

 blue-cheeked Crimson Parrot — is well named elegans ; a grass 

 parrot is also elegans, then follow splendidus, splendida. and 

 pulchclla, while that great ornithologist, Gould, has conferred 

 the honor of pulcherrimus on another Australian parrot. 

 These names, given by scientists, will show Australians in what 

 high esteem these birds, so common with us, are held by observers 

 from other lands. 



The Crimson Parrot, previously mentioned, is, I think, be- 



