NKOI'l.'EMA. IG.'i 



The eu.'As are tour or live in number for a sitting, rounded oval in form, wliite, except wliere 

 earth-stained, the shell l)eing close-grained, dull and almost lustreless. An average egg taken 

 by Mr. A. Zeitz on SpUsby Island, Sir Joseph Bank's Group, measures :— Length, 0-94 x 078 

 inches. Two eggs of a set of four taken in Western Australia measure :— Length (A) o-yS x 

 07S inches ; (B) 0-97 x 079 inches. 



September and the three following months constitute the breeding season. 



Neophema pulchella. 



CHESTNUT-SHUULDEREU ijKAS.S-PAKRAKEET. 



J'si//<iriis jiiiIcIipUus, Shaw, Nat. MiscL, pi. 9G (1792). 



Enj,h,^Hoi i,Hkhrlla,(iU)\x\i\, Bds. Aiistr., fol. Vol. V., pi, 41 (18-18); id., Handbk. Bds. Austr., 

 Vol. II., p. 77 (18G5). 



Neophf^ma jiiilcMla, Salvad., Cat. Bds. Ihit. Mus., Vol. XX., p. .")7.') ( 189 1) ; Sharpe, Hand-1. Bds., 

 Vol. II., p. 39 (1900). 



Adult M.\lk. — G'mertd cdour ahm-e (jreeti : upper iriny-roiyrls liriijldUui', llie i)tiier scrieg 

 ch^atiiut-red, inwi- ive/is of quHh black, ticir oul.r irehs an icll as /he priinary-coverfs dark biw, tlie 

 outer primaries rerii narr<iii)hj edged irilh liijld yreenish-blne, the mifer webs (if (he imor secondaries 

 green; central pair of tail-feathers gre,u, tlie tie.ct on ei/hei- sit/e green on the oiUer web, black on. the 

 inner web and tipped , with yellow, the reinaiiider siinilar, but more laryej// tipped with i/ello?v, ivliich 

 increases in extent towan/s the OHteriaost feather on either side, ivhicli is entirely yelloiv, except at the 

 base : occiput, ear-coverts, sides of neck and hind-neck green, sliglitly shaded ivitli yellow ; lores, cheeks 

 and a stripe of feathers orer the eye nrditer-blue .■ a broadband across the forehead deep bine : throat, 

 all the under siirfac' and under taU-corerts rich i/ellmc, the sides of the chest waslied with green : 

 under nnng-C'icrts rich bright blue. Total length .V-,' inches, wing .'^-J, tail 4 it, bill 0-5, tarsus 0:5. 



Adult female. — Duller in colour than the male, the chest washed with green, a far less amount 

 oj blue on the face, lores dull yellow and without the chestnut-red streak on the inner toing-coecrts. 



IHstribufi'on. — New South Wales, X'ictoria. 



|f\N former years the Chestnut-shouldered Grass-Parrakeet was very common in the neighbour- 

 Jl~ hood of Sydney, but the last specimen received by the Trustees of the .Australian Museum 

 was that of a young bird, procured by the late Mr. J. .\. Thorpe at Hornsby, in June, 1886. There 

 are adults and young of both sexes in the collection, obtained principally at North Sydney, and 

 between Parramatta and Penrith, at Pope's Creek, Eastern Creek and Bankstown. In the 

 latter localities Mr. George Masters, Curator of the Macleay Museum, at ttie University of 

 Sydney, who obtained many of these spscimans, informs ms they were very numerous in 1S75. 

 Dr. E. P. Ramsay also obtained specimens at Dobroyde, Ashtield, in 1865, and the late Mr. 

 Percy Ramsay found it breeding at iMacijuarie Fields in August, 1859. It is a matter for regret 

 that this Grass-Parrakeet has for many years past entirely disappeared from the neighbourhood 

 of Sydney, for it is one of the most beautiful species of the genus Nc-opheiiin, nor can I gain 

 information of it occurring elsewhere in any numbers in other parts of the State. .Vviculturists 

 have several times applied to me as to its whereabouts, for they were anxious to obtain examples 

 for their a\iaries. 



Individual variation is not uncommon in this species. In the .Vustralian Museum Collection 

 it is most marked in a mounted adult male, obtained at Rope's Creek, which has the under 

 surface, but more particularly the fore-neck, upper breast and thighs washed with orange-red. 

 Others have indications, more or less, of a reddish-orange spot, but this is most pronounced in an 

 adult female obtained at North Shore, Sydney, in September, 1876. .An adult male procured at 



