I'SKI'HOTUS. 



147 



Individual variation exists in tliis species, especially in the adult females, some having the 

 underparts as above described, others having; them stained with dull red or yellow, especially on 

 the abdomen and thighs, or have the upper parts of a brownish-grey with hardly any tinge of 

 dull yellowish-olive or green. All have the mesial wing-coverts dull red. Of adult males some 

 of the feathers of the abdomen are intermingled yellow and orange-red. Of two I shot together 

 at Woodside, near Coonamble, Xew South Wales, in October, 1905, one has the under tail- 

 coverts pure yellow, the other has them yellow with narrow dull red cross-bars. Another 

 specimen has the under tail-coverts washed with green, the latter of which is also found in the 

 young stage. One unmature male has some of the golden-yellow feathers on the forehead and 

 the median wing-coverts washed with red. In some the dull red marking on the smaller upper 

 tail-coverts, are in the form of a blotch, in others a well defined transverse bar. 



The Many-coloured I'arrakeet passes mucli of its time on the ground, and feeds principally 

 on the seeds of various grasses and herbaceous plants, tlie contents of stomachs of specimens 

 examined consisting chiefly of the former. 



.Mr. Bernard H. Woodward, Curator of the Western Australian Museum, Perth, kindly sent 

 a large series of skins fur examination procured in different parts of that State, and among other 

 localities from Mount Magnet, Yandanooka and the Wongan Hills. 



From Marrick\ille, near Sydney, Mr. Percy Peir writes me as follows, under date 5th 

 October, lyog: — '• I have had (]uite a number of the Many-coloured Parrakeet ('Pii///i'/Hs multicoloy) 

 in confinement. They are very frail, seldom surviving two years of cage life, and are liable to 

 die off at any moment without the slightest warning. The few that come into the Sydney 

 market are generally in an emaciated condition, and beyond any hope of recovery. About three 

 years ago I received from Mr. Bagust, a catcher, about a dozen young birds, and they all moulted 

 out into the adult feather and lived well. They were caught a little distance out of Cobar, 

 Western Xew South Wales, and arrived in good condition : a pair kept laid a couple of 

 clutches of eggs in a hollow log in the aviary, and although time was sat out nothing resulted. 

 When disturbed these Parrakeets emit a strong odour." 



Mr. E. H. Lane, of Orange, writes me: — " I found Pscphutm midtiioloy nesting at Wamban- 

 galang Station, nineteen miles from Dubbo, New South Wales, in October, 1882, in the hollow 

 of a White Box tree. It contained merely two fresh eggs, no doubt only part of a set, but which 

 I had to take as I had cut into the hollow. This is the only time I remember seeing this species 

 there, and proliably dry weather drove it in." 



The late Mr. K. H. Bennett, of Vandembah Station, New South Wales, wrote .• — "Pscpholiis 

 multicoloy is a very common species throughout the timbered back country, to which it is almost 

 exclusively confined, being very rarely met with in the belts of timber bordering the rivers or in 

 the clumps scattered over the plains. It is mostly seen in flocks of eij^ht or ten individuals, 

 spending the greater part of its time on the ground in quest of the seeds of the various herbaceous 

 plants on which it feeds. It is by no means shy, and when disturbed merely flies to the low 

 branch of some adjacent tree, returning again to the ground immediately one has passed the 

 spot. The breeding season is during the months of September and ( )ctober, and the eggs, five 

 in number, are deposited in the hollow trunks or branches, usually of a Etu-alyptns or Casiuwina. 

 The plumage of the sexes of the young, when leaving the nest, is similar, both having the red 

 stripe on the wing ; but during the first year that of the male changes to yellow, the female 

 retaining the red shade. On this point I can speak with confidence, having repeatedly reared 

 broods of these birds. This species is entirely independent of water." 



Dr. W. Macgillivray sends me the following notes from Broken Hill, in South-westein New 

 South Wales; — " Picphotus multicoloi' is one of our commonest birds; it is found along all the 

 watercourses throughout the district, either in pairs or small lots of six or seven after the breeding 



