APKOSMICTUS. Ill 



ulii-f : taH'f"i(lier.< /ilai'A; irilh a si njht oUi-'-yriPn <//oss, prini'ijxdly uii tlcir inmyiiis ; /I'-a-l, iteck, 

 aw! a/I til'- nmi r sur/aiy srarlel, a Darrvir line of ilark hinn /'eal/frs a/'jiariiJiin/ thi' liuiil-ufck Jnim 

 ill'/ iiiter-scapitlar ivyiua .■ inider tai!-corrr(s scarl'f, largely C-iUri'd ivith black ; under iving-covrts 

 green, niargiHnl at their tips icith dull bine : edgf of tin' n-ing gni-n ; bill scarlet, paler at the lip ; 

 legs aud/e't nn-ahj gr^ i/ish-browu ; iris yelloir. Total lenglli in the jlesh 17 inches, wing S'4, 'ail S'i, 

 bill 1, tarsus OS. 



Adl'LT kkmale. — Head, n-ings and nppfr surface green ; rump feathers green larg'hj tipped 

 trith dark blue ; tail green, the lateral feathers with a bln.is/i ivash on, their outer tvebs and lipped with 

 pale rose : throat and chest dull grern, loith a dnll red tvash to the feathers of the chin and upper 

 throat : lun-i-r portion of tin' breast and thr ohihonen scarf i ; under toil-corerts grem, broadly 

 margined n'llh senrlct. 



Distribntion — Queensland, New South Wales, X'ictoria. 



^~I(^HI-^ King Lory, or " King Parrot " as it is more commonly called, is one of the com- 

 -L paratively few species figured by Surgeon-General White in his "Journal of a \'oyage 

 to Xew South Wales," from a specimen procured at Botany in May, 178s. In that work he 

 refers to it as a \'ariety of the ' Tabuan Parrot' (Psiltiuiis Aii^c/w/sj, a species, although somewhat 

 resembling the King Lory of Australia, is now known to be restricted in its habitat to the islands 

 of the Fiji Group. Another of Xew South Wales' earliest historians. Governor Phillip, in his 

 well-known " N'oyage to liotany Bay," also hgures and describes it as a \ariety of the ' Tabuan 

 Parrot.' 



The range of this species extends from the neiglibourhood of Cairns, in North-eastern 

 Queensland, throughout the coastal districts of New South Wales, into N'ictoria, occurring as 

 far west as the Otway Ranges. It evinces a decided preference for hea\ily timber-clad ranges, 

 and humid scrubs, localities that afford it an abundant supply of seeds and berries, which 

 constitute its usual food. During my early collecting days it was extremely common in the 

 Strzelecki Ranges, in South Gippsland, X'ictoria, frei^uenting chiefly the tall Eucalypti; except 

 when the breeding season was over, accompanied by their young they were frequently disturbed 

 in the low undergrowth. In very severe winters these birds would eat the exposed portions ot 

 potatoes while growing in the crop. They, too, are extensively destructive to maize, both in the 

 northern and southern coastal districts of New South Wales. When the maize is just ripening 

 on the cobs, these birds make their appearance in large flocks, chiefly immature and young 

 birds, and commit great havoc, stripping the cobs in many instances of every grain of seed. 



Although some of its notes are harsh and loud, the male utters at times a soft and musical 

 double call-note. 



There is a very large series of specimens in the Reference Collection of the Australian 

 iNIuseum from the three eastern States. Most of these were obtained by Mr. Robert Grant, 

 Taxidermist of the Australian Museum, on the Bellinger River, New South W'ales, or by 

 Messrs. E. J. Cairn and Robt. Grant while collecting on behalf of the Trustees of the Australian 

 Museum at Cairns and on the Bellenden Ker Range, North-eastern Queensland. It includes 

 also specimens obtained by Mr. George Masters at Wide Bay, in Southern Queensland, in 1867, 

 and also at Ulladulla, New South Wales, the previous year. 



Typically specimens from Cairns, are smaller than others obtained much farther south, on 

 the Bellinger River. From the former locality the wing-measurement of adult males varies 

 from 7-3 to 7-5 inches, and from the latter locality 8-3 to 8-4 inches. Intermediate-sized forms, 

 however, are to be found in the Cairns District, the wing-measurement of one adult male being 

 775 inches. The bills of the northern birds are, too, comparatively larger. I cannot distinguish 

 any difference in colour; newly-moulted birds from New South Wales are as brilliant in colour 



