JOO PSITTACID.E. 



Adult M.\LK.--'r'rHer<il (■o/i>iir ahnvi- aiiiUn-lo/r hrii/hf i/rnns-yreen : ocri/>n/ irnslir,/ irilh IJios/i- 

 qrfi'it: front of the head, chin, chn-ks and throat giunbogc-yflloiC'; Iji-I,,//- th'- lliru.it a rrexrrnt of scarlet, 

 III,' hdsen of thp.se fi'((tl,er.< ijatahoiir-yrllou; thosi' imxt tltr chest yfllotv at ih, hasf, t:cnrUt in the cntre, 

 (/rass-yreeii- at the tips: Ions, orliitnl reyimi and ear-cnrerts yrass-yr,', n : pmnnries lilne on thiir 

 outer loebs, stroni//y /vnsheii iritfi i/nins-yreen, hlark on their Inner welig ; pritnarij-eovertshlue Jarntly 

 tinyeil ivith i/ross-greeii ; tail grass yreen, t.Jie central feathers slinrleil irith blue near their shafts, and 

 the lateral feathers n-ashed with tdae an their outer n-ebs : under surface of the tail-feathers blark, 

 lii/hter at the tips : bill red : Iris rieh yelhj)C : feet bronm. Total lenijth in the jlesh V< inches, n-iny 

 7-S, tail '■>, bill l~>-7, tarsn.s (>■'!. 



AuULT FEMALE. — Dull yrass-yreen above and belan' : nHnijs and tail as in^ the male, bat harimj 

 the inner trebs of the primaries narran-li/ edged a'ith yellon:islt-white, and the inner webs aj the lateral 

 tail-feathers broadly margined, iritli rose and tip/ied irith dull yellun : face and ear-a, reels pale 

 greenish-grey, the latter and the cheeks slightly ivashed irith blue.- margins of the feathers on the 

 loii-er throat tinged with dull rose : thighs scarlet ■ under tail carerls yelloirish-green. 



Distribni.ion^Kew South Wales, \'ictoria, South Australia. 



ONLY two species of the genus Polytklis are known, /'. biii'rabaudi and P. nuianura. and 

 both are restricted to the southern portions of the Australian continent. They are 

 elegant in form, and may be distinguished by their lengthened tail-feathers, the inner webs of 

 the lateral ones of the adult male are uniform in colour, while those of the female are broadly 

 margined with rose-pink. In Xew South Wales the present species gives undoubted preference 

 to the vicinity of water, and is an inhabitant of the open forest country and lightly timliered 

 plains in the neighbourhood of Wagga Wagga, Yass and W'armatta, and extenduig through the 

 Riverina District into X'ictoria and adjoining portions of Soutli Australia. It'is particularly 

 numerous in the former locality, where I met with it in .-\ugust and September of 1888, and 

 where Mr. George Masters many years before procured a large series of specimens in company 

 with the late Sir William Macleay. These specimens are now in the collection of the Macleay 

 Museum at the Llniversity of Sydney. All the specimens in the Australian Museum Collection 

 were procured in the central southern districts of New South Wales, and I have never seen it 

 from any other part of the State. Writing of this species Gould remarks : — " When we know 

 more of its history I expect it will be found to enjoy a similar range to the P. mclaihura, and that 

 the two species as closely assimilate in their habits as they do in form." Polyldn barrabaiidi, 

 however, is restricted to the south-eastern portion of the continent, while the range of P. mclanuia 

 extends right across the southern portion from east to west. 



Barraband's l^arrakeet, or the " Green Leek " as it is more frequently called, is a showy 

 and attractive species, bearing confinement well and breeding in captivity. The first specimen 

 of this bird I saw was a fine old adult male shot from a flock at TarnaguUa, Mctoria. 



It passes most of its time on the ground, where it procures its food, which consists of the 

 seeds of \arious grasses and herbaceous plants. 



Individual variation in this species is not uncommon, one of the adult females in the 

 Australian Museum Collection has some of the median upper wing-coverts yellow, and another 

 one in the Mounted Exhibit Collection has some of the scapulars broadly tipped with dull yellow. 

 Mr. G. A. Keartland has kindly supplied me with the following notes ; — " Being desirous of 

 seeing Polytdis Inu-rabniidi in its home on the Murrumbidgee River, New South Wales, Messrs. 

 T. and C. Brittlebank and I arranged to be driven to one of the river flats, where it frequently 

 breeds, and from which the clutch of eggs in my cabinet was taken. The date of our visit was 

 the 25th September, 1901. We found the male birds very numerous, in couples or in flocks of 

 from six to ten, but only noticed two females, which we shot. That the females were all sitting 

 was evident from the bare state of the breasts of those secured. The male birds do not sit, but 



