120 PLATYCERCIN^. 



am sending you male and female hybrids of Platyccrcin harnardi + P. Jiavcolus, shot near 

 \\'irrabarra. The female was mated with a male of P. fiavcnhts, and the eggs contained embryos." 



Mr. F. A. Shelley informs me this species is \'ery common in the vicinity of Wagga, on the 

 Murrumbidgee River, New South Wales, usually being met with feeding in small flocks in the 

 Eucalypti along the banks of the river. During the latter part of igog he found a pair breeding in 

 a dead branch of a hollow tree on the edge of a lagoon, the nesting-place being about three feet 

 down the hole, which was forty feet from the ground. In the same tree was a nesting-place 

 with eggs of tire Red-rumped Parrakeet (Psephotns hcvinatouotus ). .\nother nesting-place of 

 Platvcci-cus fiavcolus contained young. Mr. Shelley informs me these birds have a peculiar 

 musty odour, which extends to their nesting-places, and still remains when their bodies are 

 cooked and prepared for the table." 



Mr. Percy Peir writes me from Marrickville, Sydney; — "I saw the Vellow-rumped 

 Parrakeet (Platyccrcits flavcolus) at Whitton, near Narrandera, New South Wales, in small 

 flocks of about eight or more, and they were always difficult to approach, being of a shy nature. 

 Of later years these Parrakeets have appeared more frequently in the bird-dealers shops in 

 Sydney, but never more than about half a dozen at a time. In the early summer a few young 

 birds arrive in the market, but I have never heard of any being reared. I have had several 

 pairs llying in the a\iary, but they never made the slightest attempt to breed. The \ariation 

 in plumage is very great, so much so that at times it is difficult to distinguish them from the 

 Adelaide Parrakeet. They are generally known as the ' Murrumbidgee Rcjsella,' and are rather 

 short lived, seldom surviving four years of confinement." 



The late Mr. K. II. Bennett, of \'andembah Station, wrote: — "The habitat of Platyccniis 

 flavcolus in New South Wales is the belt or fringe of large Gum trees bordering the Lachlan, 

 Darling and Murrumbidgee Rivers, and so exclusively is it found where the Eucalyptus flourishes, 

 that it is never met with beyond their range. Usually it occurs in pairs, or in small flocks 

 of five or six individuals, probably the parents and brood of the year. It breeds during the 

 months of September and October, and the eggs, four in number, are deposited in some hollow 

 branch. The young of the year have the green plumage of Platyccvcus pennantii. On this point 

 I can speak with confidence, having reared them from the nest." 



From Melbourne Mr. G. A. Keartland sends me the following notes ; — " Platyccrcns flavcohis 

 is known under such names as ' Swamp Lory,' ' Blam IJlam,' and ' Yellow Rosella.' These 

 birds are most numerous along the course of the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers, or near the 

 swamps in the neighbourhood of Swan Ilill. Whilst some are particularly highly coloured, 

 others are not so. This renrark applies to both adults and young. In December, igo2, Mr. 

 Frank Williams sent six nestlings from W^agga, and some of them were more brightly coloured 

 than adult birds I shot in the same district shortly before. Others again were as dull as the 

 young of P. jlavi'vcnti'is, but not quite so dark." 



Dr. A. M. Morgan writes me as follows from Adelaide, South Australia: — "Platyccvcus 

 flavcolus was common in the Laura district and as far north as Port .Vugusta; north of that I 

 did not meet with them. They vary very much in plumage; what I took to be very old birds 

 have a great deal of red about thenr, so that they might almost be confounded with P. adclaiihr. 

 They bred in the hollow limbs of the large gum trees in the bed of the Roclcy River. They did 

 not do any damage to the gardens that I heard of, being rather shy birds. I found theiu breeding 

 at Port Augusta in a Gum creek leading out of the Flinders Range. The eggs are six or seven 

 for a clutch, and the breeding season is from August to November, .August and September being 

 the time when most of them lay." 



In July and .Vugust, lyoo. Dr. Morgan noted this species at Port .Augusta, where a 

 specimen was obtained, but not further north, during his trip to the Mount Gunson District. 



