15G PI.ATYCEKCIN^. 



Neophema venusta. 



BLUE-BANDED fiKASS-PAKKAKEET. 

 r.n/faais ivmis/ns, Tcmm., Trans. Linn. Soc, Vol. XIII., p. 121 (1821). 

 Eti.jiliima chri/so^lnmfi, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. V., pi. 37 (ISl.S); i,I., HaiulhU-. Bits. Austr., 



Vol. ri., p, 71 (ISGD). 

 /Yi'ij/i/i<'>iia rrniisfa, Salvacl., Oat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XX., p. r>70 (18'Jl); Sharpi-, Hand-l. 



Bd.s., Vol. 11., p. Sit (1000) 

 Adult male. — (ieiwral cnhnir ahnre nlipe-grffii, the lie.ad sligltlhi icuslu'il ii-itli i/fl/uif: iuiu'r 

 secondaries I'lkt ihi' hark : rpiiiauuhr af tlie ipnlls hlnck ivoshrd ivilJt hi in' on llie nnler irrhs of the 

 outer secondcn-ii'S, and pali-r hfiir mi tin-' npical jxirtimi of the outer irehs of tlie nntrr /iriinaries; upper 

 iiniiq-covi rts rich i/erp hlne^ .■mine nf tlie inmr i/renter series olive-iireen idioiit the middle of tlie feather : 

 central pair of lail-f'-atliers blue, laas/ied tvitli green mi their basal /lalf, the npxt pair blue margined 

 ■ivith blnckish-hroicn on their inner n^ehs, tlie remaining feathers blue at t/ie base, broadli/ margined 

 icitli hlnchish-hriiirn on their inner ivehs. and largeli/ tipped n-ith yellini\ llie oulerinnst featlier on 

 either side i/elloic, bine at the base of the outer ireb, the inner ireb blackish-broivn extending obliquely 

 across the n/iical portion of the featliers : a hand across the forehead anil extending above tlie anterior 

 portion of each eye deep indigohlue, bordered ahoee ivith a narro?v line if paler bine .■ lores ami a 

 line of feathers abure the hinder portion of each eye bright ipHmr .- cheeks, foreneck and upper breast 

 of a more pronnnnced green; the lower brea.st, ahdotnen and under tail-rm-erts yelloiv, deeper in colour 

 on the centre of the abdomen, the flanks ivashed irith green. Total length S-5 inches, wing JpS, tail 

 4 i:, bill 0-5, tarsus 0-5. 



Adult female. — Similar in plumnge to the male. 



Distribution. — \'ictoria. South Australia, Tasmania, and some of the larger Islands of Bass 

 Strait. 



||nT is somewhat remarkable that of the seven species belonging to the preceding .Vustralian 

 JL. genus, Psifhottis, not a single representative is found in Tasmania, while of a similar 

 number of species found in Australia, which compribe the genus \'rophi-iiid, two of them also 

 inhabit Tasmania. 



The present species, which may be distinguished from all others of the genus by its almost 

 uniform rich deep blue upper wing-coverts, is an inhabitant of the south-eastern portions of the 

 Australian continent, some of the larger islands of Bass Strait and Tasmania. The series of 

 skins in the .Australian Museum Collection is a small one, but the skin of an adult male labelled 

 " .Xdelaide, 1S62," and of another labelled " Murray River, 1867," may be easily distinguished 

 from an adult procured by Mr. George Masters, at the Ouse River, Tasmania, in March, 1867, 

 by having the centre of the abdomen rich jonquil-yellow. 



I have occasionally observed this species at Keilor and Broadmeadows, \"ictoria, where 

 it used to breed in hollow stumps, and once, in my early collecting days, I procured a 

 specimen between Government House and the St. Kilda Road, Melbourne. Temminck, in his 

 original description of the Blue-banded Grass-Parrakeet, states that his specimens were obtained 

 at King George's Sound (Western Australia). Mr. George Masters obtained specimens of 

 Neophema el(\i;iins there, but I have never seen or heard of specimens of .V. vcnnsttj being obtained 

 in that State. 



While resident at Circular Head, Tasmania, Dr. L. llolden wrote me : — " About the end 

 of October, 18S6, I saw a pair of the Blue-banded Grass- Parrakeets (Euphcma venusta} about 

 some fallen tree trunks in a potato field at Montagu, and they were possibly breeding, but not 

 knowing their habits of nesting in logs, made no search." 



