I'r.A'l VI'KHCC.S. 117 



only from Pliitvcrrnis dedans, Gmelin, by the greater amount of black- on the feathers of the back, 

 but principally by the inner half of the upper win'_;-coverts (except the margins of some of the 

 median and greater series) being black, and lor which I proposed the distinguishing name of 



Platvccfdis nicliDii'ptcnii. 



Referrable to this form are the following notes of Mr. Edwin Ashby, of lilackwood, South 

 Australia: — '^ Platycct'cu^ rh'gcins is very numerous in the north-western part of Kangaroo Island. 

 Full plumaged and handsome adult birds were far more comtnon than immature birds, which 

 is the reverse to what I found during a \isit to Gippsland, N'ictoria. The Kangaroo Island 

 form is blacker on the back than south-eastern specimens. It is remarkable that this species 

 is so nnmerous on Middle Ri\er and Western kuer, Kangaroo Iskmd, and should not occur in 

 the Adelaide Hills, where its place is taken by I'lnlytcnin adclaido:." 



.\ set of live eggs taken by Messrs. .\. and \V. White, at Wilson River, Kangaroo Island, 

 South .\ustralia, on the 5th October, 1S93, are rounded-oval in form, the shell being close-grained, 

 smooth and slightly lustrous, and measure : — Length (A) ri x 0-1)3 inches; (1j) i-o8 x 0-93 

 inches; (C) 1-07 x 0-92 inches; (D) 1-07 x 0-92 inches; (E) i-ii x 0-95 inches. 



Platycercus adelaidae. 



ADELAIDE PARR4KEET. 



9 



Pl,il,l<',rc,is wlphiidv'\i:io\x\A, Proc. Zool. Soc, iS-tO, p. IGl ; id., Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. V., pi. 



tl84.s). 

 Pla/yrercns adelaideiisis, Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. II., p. 46 (1865). 



Plalycerrui nddaidn', Salvad., Oat. Bd.s. Brit. Mus,, Vol. XX., p. •■)4:3(I891) ; .Sliarpe, lland-1. Bds , 

 Vol. II., p. 37 (1900); Salvad, Ibi.s, 1907, p. 311. 



Adult m,\lk. — Forehi'ad, crown 0/ //n' hew/, giilff: of tin' nffk and aU lln' luider siivfnrc dull 

 criiwiou, the median portion, of noinr fecJ/iers, fin' hnaal /jor/iou oj otiirrs nf the hreotft d^dl yellow; 

 cheeks deep bine : iiape and. hind-inck doll yc/lon; irasln'd irilli crimson, so)nr nf the Unver fenthers of 

 the latter tvith Idackish centres : sca/mlars atnl inler-^i-itpnhir rei/io)i hlnck ni'irf/ined nnth dnll ye.llon.\ 

 some (if the former, as nvll as tin- miJer tnaryins of the inner median nn.d (irenter n)i.ng-corerts and 

 inner secondaries ivashed nnth dull crimson ; Imrir Imck iiml riim/i i/i-l/on' n'ashed n:ith crimson, the 

 itpper tail-corerts more pronouncedly crimson, very narron-ly edyed tvith yellon- ; alnrye patch on the 

 lesser and median n:in.(/-corerts, and the nnter series 0/ the remainder jiidc him': quills and primary- 

 coverts black, their outer webs dark bine: the ottter seconditries margined n-ilh pale blue ; four 

 central tail-feathers blue, th'- middle pair n'oshed with green : the remainder dark blue on the back, 

 their apical pnrliint jiale hlnr tipped n-ith n-liile, the greater part of the inner >veb of those next 

 the central ones blackish-brown : bdl ndiitish-hom cii/our, bluish at the base : legs and feet greyish- 

 black; iris brown, Total length in the jlcsh' Pd'-'' inches, wing fl S, tail T'T, bill 77, tarsus td-7. 



Adult fem.\LE. — Duller in plumage than the male, nnth less crimson and more dull yellow in 

 the phumnje "/' th, under parts, and the unirgiiis of the feathers if th,- upper parts edged n:ith very 

 pale dingy greenish-yellou; and only a n-ash id' crimson to the margins of the inner greater wing- 

 coverts and inner secondaries. 



Distribution — South Australia. 

 C(F\ OULD originally described this species in the " Proceedings of the Zoological Society of 

 V_Jr London," in 1840, and he stated that some of the finest specimens he procured in the 

 very streets of the city of Adelaide. In his Handbook to the Birds of Australia* he remarks : — 

 " When I reached the interior of South Australia, in the winter of 1S38, I found the adults 



* Gould, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. II., p. 4/ (1S65). 



