56 LuKiH).*:. 



Mr. iidwin Ashby writes me from South Australia: — " Glossopiittaius porp]ivroce[>hahis were 

 in great numbers at Blackwood in igoS, but they are here every year when the Peppermint 

 Gums are in flower." 



From the Iveed-beds near Adelaide, on the 7th May, 1^(13, Air. W. W'liite wrote me as 

 follows: — ".At Mount Barker, on the iSth September, 1886, my son and I found a nestinf^-place 

 of GlossopsUta poyplivrocephalns in the hollow limb of a Eucalypt, and after enlargin.t< the narrow 

 entrance to it with an axe, much to the annoyance and evident displeasure of the parent birds, 

 discovered three young ones and an addled egg on the decaying wood at the bottom of the cavity. 

 During the same month we were also successful in obtaining at Blakestown, near Mount Lolty, 

 two fresh eggs from a partially grown over hole in a green limb of a large Gum tree. I am 

 informed that in the Flinders Ranges these birds are irregular breeders, and young birds have 

 been seen in the depth of winter." 



Dr. \V. .\. Angove writes as follows from Tea-Tree Gully, South Australia : — Glossppsittintis 

 purp/iyniu-plui/ns is very numerous at all times, and breeds fairly freely, but more so in the Murray 

 Scrub and along the banks of the Murray Fiiver, in the hollows and spouts of the largest of the 

 Gums. ( )ctober is their proper nesting time." 



F'rom Western Australia Mr. Tom Carter writes me: — '' Glossopsittiuiis purplivrocepluiliis 

 simply swarmed in the vicinity of Broome Hill, South-western Australia, in the summer of 

 1906-7, feeding on tlie lioney from the White (jum blossoms, which were in unusual profusion. 

 Eggs were not taken, but apparently breeding was late, as many recently fledged birds were 

 observed all through January. F'locks of this species fly at such a reckless speed that 

 numbers are killed by flying against wires and netting fences. They are common about 

 Kellerberin, in the east central district, and also about Albany and Denmark in the far south." 



The eggs are four in number for a sitting, round or rounded-oval in form, white, the shell 

 being close-grained, smooth and lustreless, and more or less stained w'ith the decaying wood on 

 which they are laid. ( )ne egg of the set of two fresh eggs taken by Mr. White at Blakeston, 

 near Mount Lofty, in September, 1886, measures; — Length 0-83 x o-86 inches. Another set 

 of three taken by him in the same locality in November, 181)3, measure: — Length (A) 0'85 x 

 0'7 inches; (B) ovS x 0-72 inches; (C) o-8 x o'66 inches. 



Family CACATUID^. 



Sub-family CACATUIN^. 



Cren-u-s ns/i:iOl203-ljOSSXJS, (r;„ff;;'y s/. iruoin-. 



Microglossus aterrimus> 



GREAT PALM COCKATOO. 

 I'silfaciis (iterrimiis, Gruel., Syst. Nat., torn. I., p. .'ISO (1788). 



Micrdfflijsmis alrrriiini.s, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. Suppl., pi. 61 (l'"^GO); Salvad , Cat. Bds. Brit. 

 Mus., Vol. XX., p. 10:5 (1891) : Wliarpe, Hand-1. Bds., Vol. II., p. 9 (190(1) ; Salvad., Ibi.?, 

 1906, p. 12.5. 



Microghisstim nlrrriminn, Gould, Ilandhk. Bds. Austr., Vol. II., p. 27 (186.5). 



Adult .male. — Lares ami forduail Hack: eloiujateil ci-'-^t pliiiins dark .ilafij-IJark : rrrnaiivhr 

 of the ])Ii<ma</i' black iri/h a (jrrfnish gloss, iHiich is more iiroiKni ncid un the Jeatln vs oj lln- hack ; 



