POLYTKLIS. 99 



miles of \delaii.le, and which is situated at the foot of the hills, the bird, though not abundant, 

 is nearly always to be found. There is a permanent creek at Modbury, with large Red and 

 Blue Gums on it, and the birds nest in the hollows and spouts of these trees, October being their 

 nesting month and three to four eggs the usual clutch. 1 have never seen this bird abundant 

 anywhere, though one seldom goes far along the Murray River without hearing and seeing them." 

 From Broome Hill, South-western Australia, i\Ir. Tom Carter writes me as follows : — 

 '• Cdlopsittdi-iis iwva-hollandiir is fairly abundant in tlie north-west, and has been noted as far 

 south as Kellerberrin. Unlike the larger[Cockatoos, which seem to have a regular nesting time, 

 irrespective of rains, this species breeds early or late, according to the season. Eggs have been 

 taken from the 14th July to the nth September. They make charming cage birds and breed in 

 captivity.' 



The breeding place of the Cockatoo-Parrakeet is in a hole in a tree ; those I saw on the 

 Namoi and Castlereagh Ri\ers were from twenty to forty feet from the ground, but ]->r. W. 

 Macgillivray records finding them at all elevations. 



Usually five eggs constitute a sitting, but .Mr. Keartland records as many as seven being 

 occasionally found. They \ ary in shape from o\al and elongate-oval to a decided pyriform, the shell 

 being close-grained, smooth and pure white, some being dull and lustreless, others slightly glossy. 

 A set of five taken by !Mr. S. Robinson at Harriman Park, South-western Queensland, on the ist 

 October, I S97, measures : — Length (A) 1-07 x 0-77 inches ; (B) 0-93 x 078 inches ; (C) 1-07 x 

 0-8 inches ; (D) i'03 x 078 inches; (E) 1-02 x 07(1 inches. A set of five taken from a large 

 hollow in a Gum by Dr. W. Macgillivray on Valcowinna Creek, near Yanko Glen, in South- 

 western New South Wales, on the nth .August, igo5, and from which the male bird was Ikished 

 whilst sitting, measures : — Length (.A) i-o8 x 1-82 inches; (B) i-ii x o-8 inches; (C) 1-05 x 

 i-Si inches; (D) 1-03 x o-8 inches ; (E) 1-04 x 0'8i inches, .\nother set of five taken by Mr. 

 C. Carr on the 17th .August, 1906, on Burrenbilla Station, near CunnamuUa, in South-western 

 Queensland, measures : — Length (.A) 1-03 x 07S inches; (B) 1-96 x 078 inches; (C) i'02 

 X 078 inches; (D) i-o6 x 078 inches; (E) 1-07 x 077 inches. 



Immature males resemble the adult females in having the lower back, upper tail-coverts, 

 tail, lower abdomen and under tail-coverts transversely barred with yellowish-white or whity- 

 brown, but may be distinguished by the brighter yellow face and throat. Wing nearly equals 

 that of the adult, 6-4 inches. 



.August and the four following months constitute the usual breeding season, but nests 

 containing eggs or young may be found throughout the year. Mr. T. Carter found nesting- 

 places containing eggs from July to September in Western Australia, but the breeding season 

 there is entirely regulated by the rainfall. 



Family PSITTACID^. 

 Sub-family PAL^ORNITHIN^. 



Polytelis barrabandi, 



B.\RR.VlJANr)'S PARRAKEET. 



Paillni-ns hiirrabandii, Swains, Zool. Illustr., pi. •")9 (1S21). 



r.,l,ji,li>! h„rrahnn'li, Gould, Bds. Aiistr,, fol. Vol. V., pi. 15 (1848) ; l<l., Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. 



ir., p. ;3I (18G.5); Salvad., Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XX., p. 478 (1891); Sharpe, Hand-1. 



Bds,, Vol. ir, p. :'.2/l'J00,). 



