48 LORIID.H. 



in^i'T Wfbs : primaru-g ami secomliirhs gt-i'ii, maryiiied n'illi hlackinh-hnnvii od llirir iiiner webs; 

 ear-covrts bright yi'.Uoic: clu'st dull jiuriilisli-rfd, brighter on the sid'-s, ench featicr with a narrow 

 shaft stripe of bright i/elfoiv : remainder of the imder sitrfi.ce iind under t.ail-corerls i/elloirisli-yreen; 

 hill red : feet dark ashy-t/rry. 'I'ulid leni/th / iucln'S, ivimj JfS, tail o, bill IJ'H, tarsus ()J/S. 



Adult fkmale. — liisembles tlv imde, but is miirli duller in •■olour, and has tin' red cap mi the 

 head smaller. 



Distribution^North-wesiern Australia, Northern Territory of South Australia, North 

 Queensland. 



/"l^HE N'aried Lorikeet is an inhabitant of the northern portion of the Australian continent. 

 -L At Cape York, Northern Queensland, the late Mr. J. .A. Thorpe collected specimens in 

 1867-8, the late Mr. Edward Spalding obtained specimens at Port Darwin, and the late Mr. 

 Alexander Morton at Port Essington, in the Northern Territory of South .Australia. .Mr. E. J. 

 Cairn procured specimens near Derby, in 1SS6, and Mr. G. .\. Keartland near the junction of 

 the Fitzroy and Margaret Rivers, North-western Australia, in 181)6-7. ]\I. Octave Le Bon 

 informed me he obtained living examples at Wyndham, and also procured specimens on the 

 opposite side of the continent, near Burketown, in the Gulf I3istrict, Northern (Queensland, 

 in 1902; and Dr. \V. Macgillivray writes me that in tlie Cloncurry District, about t\v(j hundred 

 miles further south, " flocks of Ptilosclcra vei'sicoloy find an ample supply of food during the 

 flowering of the Bloodwood and other Eucalypts." 



i\I. Octave Le Bon informs me he succeeded in taking a number of these birds to Europe 

 in 1902, feeding them principally upon a thick paste of maize meal and sugar, and gradually 

 changing their diet until they subsisted almost wholly on Canary seed. 



This species appears to be subject to much \ariation in colour. The finest pair of skins in 

 the Australian Museum Collection was obtained by Mr. E.J. Cairn, near Derby, North-western 

 Australia, in 1886. The cheeks, sides of the face and neck of the adult male are of a much 

 deeper blue than is shown in Gould's upper figure of this species in his folio edition of the " Birds 

 of Australia," and the yellowish-green shaft stripe at the tips of the feathers on these parts are 

 smaller and finer ; none of the .Australian Museum specimens have the lower breast and abdomen 

 so broadly streaked with yellow as is there represented, these parts being almost uniform in 

 colour. Another speciinen in the collection has the feathers of the mantle, upper portion of the 

 back, the fore-neck and sides of the breast, strongly suffused with cinnabar-red, which is relie\ed 

 on the under parts of the body by yellowish-green shaft-streaks. 



Mr. Keartland sent me the following note when forwarding the eggs of this species for 

 description in 1902 : — " In December, 1896, immense Hocks of Ptih'Silcra versicolor visited several 

 Box trees which were in blossom, in the vicinity of our camp, near the junction of the Fitzroy 

 and Margaret Rivers, North-western Australia. .As they moved rapidly amongst the foliage, 

 their scarlet crowns were very conspicuous, suggesting the idea that the trees were adorned 

 with brilliant scarlet flowers. A number afterwards bred in the hollow branches of trees growing 

 along the Margaret l^iver. In habits, mode of flight and notes, they bear a close resemblance 

 to Glossopsittaciti coiiciiiinis. The eggs of I'lilosclcra x'cnicolor, I send you for description were 

 taken by Mr. E. J. Harris on the 6th May, itjoi, from a hollow spout in a low gum tree, about 

 thirty feet from the ground, near the Margaret River. They were (juite fresh, and were laid 

 on the dry decayed wood about eighteen inches from the entrance." 



These eggs are a swollen ellipse in form, pure white, the shell being close-grained, dull and 

 lustreless. Length: — (A) 0*91 x 9-76 inches; (B) o'93 x 0-73 inches. 



Immature males resemble the adult female. 



