144 PI.ATYCKKCIN.K. 



on the 2(jth September, Mr. W. McLennan and 1 fotuid a nest full of younf,' ones in a hollow in a 

 Cnsuarina. Tl)ey were nearly fled,L;ed, and differed from all others in approachinK more nearly 

 to /'. luriiiiiton'hciis in colouring, the under tail-coverts being red and the dark red wing patch 

 being present as in the latter species, but not to such an extent; no doubt if one were to collect 

 specimens from here to Hay and Narrandera, one would find a gradual mergence of one species 

 into the other." 



From Melbourne Mr. G. A. Keartland writes me as follows: — " The Mallee country in the 

 Wimmera District is the home of I'siplnitiis xanthiii'r]u<n% in \'ictoria. The birds undergo very 

 little change in plumage from the time they lea\e the nest to old age, and the sexes are indis- 

 tinguishable by plumage or size. I have reared several nestlings, and although one is now 

 twelve years old, it is exactly like a pair of young ones which died before they could feed 

 themselves." 



The nesting-place is in a hollow of a tree, the different species ot Casuannahti\n)i, more often 

 selected, also in holes in Gum trees, and, as noted by Dr. Macgillivray, often a long way from 

 the entrance, the eggs being deposited on the decaying wood or dust usually found in these 

 ca\ities. 



The eggs are more often five, occasionally only three, and sometimes as many as eight in 

 number for a sitting. They \'ary from rounded-oval to an ellipse in form, pure white, the shell 

 being close-grained and usually dull and lustreless. A set of li\e in the Australian Museum 

 Collection, taken by the late l\lr. K. 1 1. iJennett on the iSth August. iijSi^ at ^'andembah Station, 

 in the Lachlan I-)istrict, New South Wales, measures as follows: — Length (A) tr86 x 0-72 

 inches; (1!) o-g :< 0-73 inches; (C) o-88 x o'73 inches; (I>) o'g x o'75 inches; (E)o%S4 x 0-73 

 inches. y\nother set of ii\e taken by Mr. Bennett in the same locality on the 2-vh August, iSSg, 

 measure as follows : — Leni^'th ( A ) 0-93 x 0-77 inches; (B) 0-94 x 0-74 inches; (C) cj-SS x 0-76 

 inches; (D) 0-93 x 0-77 inches ; (E)o-i;i x o-7ri inches. 



August and the four following months constitute the usual breeding season of the "\'ellow- 

 vented Parrakeet in New South Wales, but at I'ort Au.;usta. in South Australia, L)r. A. M. 

 Morgan found on the ^oth July, igo >. nesting-places with fresh eggs, incubated eggs and young 

 birds. 



From Cooper's Creek, South Australia, Count Sahadori has separated a paler form under 

 the name of Pscplu'tiis xauthoryhoin, var. pii/lrscciis. 



Psephotus pulcherrimus, 



BEAUTIFUL PAKl.'AKKE l\ 



Philijcrrciif jinlchn-riim):<, Gould, Ann. and .Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. .W., p. 114 (^184")). 



Paejihofiiti pvJcherrimus, (iould, Bds. Au.str., fol. Vol. V., pi. .'U (IS48): /./., HancUik. I'xis. Au.str., 



Vol. II., p. G7 (18ii.')) ; Salvad., Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus.. Vol. XX , p .'1(34 (ISOl): .Sliarpp, 



Hand-1. Bd.s., Vol. It., p. :i9n'.)00), 



AduI.T MALK. — Farrjiidi! itiiiisimi . ••rtiini nf Ihc hriiil (mil fi'iilhirti crli'inhiiij ihiiiii tjif nape and 

 ciiitre nj tin' iippir /iiini-iifr/,- hniirnhli'hldfk : scajuilar.i 11/11/ hid-k liroini : riiviji hir</)i(>iiifi-h!w>, 

 >tijiri_r/iliil Jrom llif, Jealhrra <</ the hiiivr h<ick hi/ u ndrniif h/nrk crons-haiul ; ii.ppKr lail-rovfrlx i/rfirjiin/i- 

 hill,!' /i/i/ii'fl irifh biack : tltf iiiPsia/ /rssur and mciiinn upper ii-nig-corer/s crimson: remainder nf llie 

 upper /ri)i(/-coi-erti broivii, icif/i a hlickhli wash, the iiiiier grenler corerts and the, imtermost secondaries 

 hnnvn. like llie hack ; remaimler of the secondaries l>lackish-hrf»cri : primaries broivii, irilh a hliiisli- 

 black iret^h on the basal portion of their onter irehs, the apical juirtioii of the outer primaries icith a 

 greyish wash ; central pair of taif feathers dull greenish-olive at the base, passing into blackish at their 



