HOLYTKLIS. 103 



widely distributed o\er the remainder ot South Australia, and neither Dr. W. A. Angove or Mr. 

 Edwin Asliby refer to it in their notes from that State, but the latter obtained a specimen at 

 fiticup. Western Australia, in June iSgg. Collecting; on behalf of the Trustees of the Australian 

 Museum, Mr. (.ieori,'e Masters also procured a tine series at Mongup, Salt River, in January i86g. 



The late Air. K. H. IJennett, of Yandembah Station, near Mossgiel, New South Wales, 

 wrote: — " I have only on occasion seen l-'olytiln utclanuya in a state of nature. When camped 

 on the banks of a large lagoon, near the confluence of the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee Rivers, 

 New South Wales, my attention was attracted one e.\cessively hot morning, just at sunrise, by 

 the peculiar and to me unknown notes of some bird. On looking around I observed a flock of 

 about twenty Polyiclis niclanura, in the act of alighting on the dead branches of a tree that had 

 fallen into the lagoon, with the evident intention of obtaining a drink, of which they appeared 

 much in need. I was just in time to see the direction from which these birds had come, which 

 was from the north, and at that time there was no water for over one hundred miles in that 

 direction." 



From Blackwood, South Australia, Mr. Edwin .\shby wrote me: — " I obtained a specimen 

 near Broome Hall, Eticup, Western .Australia, in June, i8gg, where it is locally known as the 

 " Marloch Parrakeet." 



Writing on the 5th October, igoy, from Marrickville, Sydney, Mr. Percy Peir has 

 sent me the following notes: — "The Black-tailed Parrakeet (PolytcUs mclannya) is generally 

 known among bird fanciers as the ' Smoker,* and these birds are undoubtedly second to none as 

 talkers, whistlers, etc. Birds now in my possession for some five years originally came over 

 from \'ictoria as squeakers, the plumage at that time being a smoky-green colour, and it took 

 about three years before they were in full colour, one male bird being a brilliant yellow on the head 

 and breast, and each succeeding year the colour becomes brighter. Fed on Canary seed and oats 

 they will live for a number of years; the critical part of their existence is prior to the annual 

 moult, when they are liable to become ' light,' which generally ends disastrously. Bread dipped 

 in milk should be supplied to all caged Parrakeets, and fewer deaths would be the result." 



For an opportunity of examining the eggs of this species I was first indebted to Mr. W. 

 White, of the Reed-beds, near .Adelaide, who found this Parrakeet breeding in September, 1863, 

 in the holes of the larger Eucalvpti overhanging the banks of the Murray River, above the North- 

 West Bend, near Pudnooka, in South .Australia. While in Melbourne in March, i8gg, Mr. 

 Chas. French, Junr., informed me that in October, i8g8, in company with Dr. Charles 

 Ryan, they met with this species in the timber bordering Lake Wimmera, North-western 

 Victoria. On this occasion, and again when Dr. Ryan visited the district in October, i8g9, 

 nesting-places were found in holes in Red Gum trees from fifteen to thirty feet trom the 

 ground. 



The eggs are four to six in number for a sitting, and vary from an ellipse to a rounded oval 

 in form, white, the shell being close-grained and smooth, but very minutely pitted and lustreless. 

 Average specimens taken by Mr. W. White on the banks of the Murray River, near Pudnooka, 

 South Australia, in September, 1863, measure: — Length (A) i-2 x i inches; (B) 1-23 x i inches. 

 .\ set of five taken in the Wimmera District of Victoria, on the 6th October, 1899, measures : — 

 Length (.\) rog x 0-98 inches; (B) 1-22 x 0-96 inches ; (C) i-2i x o-gi inches; (D) 1-23 x 

 0-96 inches; (li) V2 x 0-95 inches. 



This species also breeds in confinement. .A pair procured by Mr. White near Pudnooka 

 nested during October, 1865, in a hollow limb of a tree placed in their aviary, successfully 

 rearing three young ones from a set of four eggs. 



September and the three following months constitute the usual breeding season. Mr. 

 Masters procured immature males at Mongup, Salt Water, Western Australia, in January, 1869. 



