I'SKPHOTUS. 145 



////■■<, t/ie (ipiriif /iiirli'iii ivaalifd irif/i blue inurr nh-uiii/l// tm lluir md'-r irrhn,- ike ne.i/ /lair ijrfi-/iis/i at 

 //le b(tsr, pale li/ite on f/ii' ci'/nfrf. itud hinplij I'ljijiril irilJi irhil,, l)ie remainder yreeuish-Ziliir passiny 

 into blue at their lips and erosaed in tin centre n'it/i mi irrejnlar binrk band : fenl/iers nronnd tlv 

 eye and at the nppi r part of the base of thi lower mundUilr yrlli)n/ixh stained wit/i red ; sides of neck 

 greenish-bine .■ ihront and foreneek yre.en, the fenijiers of th" hitler tipped ntith tnrqnoiie-blue : centre. 

 • nid sid-s of breml blue, the forni'-r ivith, a i/reeiiish liir/e: ahdnofn and nnd<r tiiil-curerls scarlet, the 

 latter ivitli narroir yellonnsh edges. Total length 1 l-.'i inehes, n-in<i •>, toil I'ri^-'i, bill D-.'i't, tarsus 0-fj. 



Distrihntinn — (Jueens-land. 



LTliOl'Cill there are skins of this species unlocaHsed, but labelled " New South Wales" 

 in the •• Old Collection " of the Australian Museum, I have ne\-er met with it or heard 

 of it being obtained in any part of the State. It was one of the species discovered by Gilbert, 

 the able assistant of Gould, and described by the latter in the " Annals and Magazine of Natural 

 History,"" in 1S45. It must not be forgotten, however, in those early days, when Gilbert and 

 Gould were in Australia, that New South W'ales comprised the greater half of the eastern 

 portion of the Australian Continent, and that \'ictoria was not separated as a distinct Colony 

 until 1S51, and Queensland not until 1^59. Hence we find Gould referring to Pscphotits pnlchcrvimus 

 in his folio edition of the " Birds of Australia"! as "one of the novelties that has rewarded Mr. 

 Gilbert's researches in New South Wales . . . the specimens shot were procured on the 

 Darling Downs, where it was observed in small families feeding on the seeds of grasses, and 

 other plants growing on the plains." In his " Handbook to the Birds of .Vustralia," | which was 

 published in 1^65, and consequently after Queensland had been separated from New South 

 Wales, he refers to P. pahhci'iinms as "an inhabitant of the upland grassy plains of Queensland." 

 There is no question but many mistakes have in a similar manner occurred, especially where no 

 locality is given, and New South Wales, since separation has taken place, has been erroneously 

 recorded in the distribution of several species. No one could wish more than myself that the 

 well named "Beautiful Parrakeet" was an inhabitant of New South Wales, and I should much 

 like to see a properly authenticated and localised specimen. 



I much re'^ret being unable to give a description of the adult female, from the small series 

 of these birds m the Australian Museum Collection. ^)n<i of the specimens, probably a 

 young bird, has the feathers around the eye more yellowish, and which extends in a narrow 

 line above the scarlet band on the forehead, the lesser and median upper wing-coverts mingled 

 brown, crimson, yellow and pale green ; the scarlet feathers on the abdomen are paler and 

 broadly margined around their tips with yellowish, and the under tail-coverts are pale yellowish- 

 green, their basal portion centred with light scarlet. 



The preceding description of the adult male is taken from a skin received by Dr. E. P. 

 Ramsay, and collected by the late Mr. George Barnard on the I^awson River, Queensland, in 1880. 



The following notes have been sent me by Mr. H. G. Barnard, of Bimbi, Duaringa, 

 Queensland : — " It is many years since I have seen Psephotus pidchcyrimus. These birds were never 

 plentiful in this part, only an odd one or two being procured, but in 1882 my brother Charles and 

 I visited Fairfield Station, one hundred miles south of this, where we found the birds numerous, 

 and here for the first time discovered their breeding habits. The bird drills a hole, resembling 

 that of a Pardalote, in the large round Termite mounds on the ground, but though the entrance is 

 small the egg cavity is large, as much as a foot in diameter. The eggs are deposited on the 

 soft earth, from three to five forming a sitting. It is so long since I have seen Psephotus 

 pnlchcrnwiii 1 could not describe the female, which is quite unlike the male, being mostly of a 

 brown colour." 



* Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Vol. XV , p. 114 (1845). + Bds Austr., fol. Vol. V., text opp. pi. 34 (1848). 

 ; Handbk. Bds. Austr.. Vol. II . p. 67 (1S65). 



37 



