122 rLATYCICKCIN.E. 



/■ |(^H1-^ Yellow-bellied Parrakeet, or "Green Parrot" as the early colonists of Tasmania 

 J- named it, and applicable only to the young of the present species, is widely distributed 

 over Tasmania and some of the larf,'er islands of Bass Strait. There is a fine series of skins in 

 the Australian Museum Reference Collection, procured by Mr. George i\Iasters at the Ouse 

 Kiver and Lachlan \'ale in April, 1S67, and by the late Mr. Kendal Piroadbent, at Badger Head, in 

 Northern Tasmania. It is noteworthy that out of twenty specimens now before me only eight 

 are in the fully adult plumage figured by Gould in his folio edition of the " Birds of Australia," ' 

 the remainder being in the immature or young stage of plumage, and having the under parts 

 green, some of which are wastied more or less with yellowish-olive, liioth in adult and young 

 birds, specimens may be found which have some of the feathers of the throat and foreneck 

 washed with dull crimson, and the imder tail-coverts are more broadly matgined with olive, which 

 is more pronounced in the adult females. Others have the feathers surrounding the deep blue 

 cheeks washed with orange. 



Dr. L. Holden writes from Southern Tasmania : — " PlatyiO'cus Jfavivcntris is the common 

 Parrakeet of the mountains and forests of \\'estern Tasmania, the districts with a heavy rainfall. 

 In 1895, while riding by the bridle track from Cressy to Ross, in the midlands of Tasmania, 1 

 saw one enter a hole in a tree by the track side." 



From Melbourne Mr. G. A. Keartland writes me as follows: — " Platyccvcus flavivcntris utters 

 a note very similar to that of P. elegaiis. These birds are numerous on the islands of Bass 

 Strait and in Tasmania. I shot several on King Islantl, and also on islands in the Kent Group. 

 They are all \ery dark green in colour." 



From Glenorchy, Tasmania, Mr. M. Harrison wrote me in January, 1910: — " Years ago 

 I remember the ' Green Parrakeet' (Phityccyi iis fiaviveutris) as very plentiful in the ^lidlands, 

 where numbers of them might be seen in the season feeding upon the fruit of the Hawthorn and 

 Sweet Briar hedges. I can also recollect them congregating about the barn doors in the old 

 hand-threshing days among the domestic fowls, just as described by Gould. .\s unfortunately 

 is the case with so many of our native birds, however, they are not now to be found in numbers 

 anywhere approaching ' old times,' and except in a few favoured localities their eggs are difficult 

 to obtain, and are looked upon as a 'good find.' About here they are scarce, but I remember 

 some years ago that a \isitation was made by them to these southern parts literally in thousands. 

 Every man possessing the semblance of a gun was after them for the pot, and the number slain 

 must have reached a high figure. Only once since, some eight or nine years ago, has this 

 occurred where fiocks, although not so large as on the previous occasion, spread over the 

 Derwent Valley as far down as Austin's Ferry. Presumably some accident of climate and 

 consequent deficiency in food supply in their usual habitat was responsible for the occurrence. 

 On the 2nd December, lyoS, I was out with Mr. .A. E. Jjrent at Jiothwell, when he took a set 

 of five eggs from the hollow spout of a Eucalyptus. The eggs, which were very slightly 

 incubated, were deposited on a bed of decayed wood, apparently ground to powder, of which 

 there was a very large quantity. Both birds were at the nest, and both had the rich colouring 

 of fully mature birds. At the end of November, in the prex'ious year, and in the same locality, 

 Mr. .\. L. Butler and myself found a nesting-hole witii the biid in attendance. The tree, 

 however, was large and the hole situated at such an awkward elbow as to be inaccessible to us. 

 On visiting it last year we found Starlings in possession. The eggs vary from four to seven 

 or eight in number for a sitting. As is usual with the Tasmanian Psittacid.e, the nesting 

 season is late, generally in December." 



Mr. R. N. .\tkinson, of Penguin, Tasmania, writes me: — " Platycercus Jlavivcntris, locally 

 known as the 'Green Parrot,' may often be seen in the winter months, and just before the breeding 



• Gould. Bds Austr., fol. Vol. V., pi. 24 (1S4S). 



