170 PLATVCKKCIN.K. 



beiiii; able to penetrate the bushes formiiifi the fence, make straight for the waterhole, where they 

 are intercepted in scores by a fine meshed net held up by two men standin;; just in front of the 

 opening." 



Mr. Robert (irant, Taxideimist of the Australian Museum, has handed me the following 

 notes: — " Mi/opsittains inhhiliitm \s very numerous m most of the western parts of New South 

 Wales. In November, 1S92, they were exceedingly plentiful at Byrock, the tall strong grasses 

 bending down with their weight as they fed on the seeds. In the early morning I have seen 

 them clustered so close together on branches of dead trees, that at a little distance away it 

 appeared as if the branches were covered with green wool, the birds all the time uttering 

 their clear warbling little song." 



The late Mr. K. H. Bennett, of Yandembah Station, near Booligal, New South Wales, 

 wrote: — '' 'Mclopstttiuus iindiddtiii is one of our migratory species, usually arriving early in 

 September and departing again after the breeding season is over in February. Its numbers, 

 however, are greatly influenced by the seasons. After good rains it arrives in thousands, but in 

 dry weather only a few scattered flocks put in an appearance. This increase or decrease of 

 numbers is due to the abundance or scarcity of the various grasses and plants, the seeds of 

 which constitute its sole food. These birds breed in September and October, and 1 have seldom 

 found less than six eggs in the nesting-place, and sometimes eight. In hot weather they 

 resort tu tlie water morning and e\'ening for the purpose of drinking." 



Dr. W. Macgillivray, writing tome of the birds of the Broken Hill District, South-western 

 New South Wales, remarks : — " Mclopsittacm undnlatiis passes through this district in the spring, 

 and returns northward towards the end of summer, not breeding here. My first note of tloclcs 

 arriving here was on the 6th October, 1901, and for a month afterwards they were numerous, 

 large flocks being frequently flushed from the saltbush flats where they were feeding. The next 

 year was very dry, and none appeared at all. In 1903 they were breeding in numbers in April 

 about one hundred and thirty miles north from here, where early autumn rain had fallen, and 

 feed was abundant ; that year we did not get any rains until September, and flocks began to 

 pass southward during tlie last week in October, returning north again early in March. In 

 1905 I only saw one pair. In 1906 they were passing southward in October, and were again 

 noted going north during the last week in January and the beginning of February." 



Referring to a trip made by Dr. W. Macgilli\ray. in company with Mr. W. McLennan, 

 in the spring of 1909. in South-western New South Wales, the former writes: — "On our trip 

 going northward from Broken Hill we first met with Mclopiittacui unditliitus coming south on the 

 13th September; after that we met them in greater numbers as we went north ; they appeared to be 

 dropping oiif for nesting purposes wherever suitable conditions obtained. When we arrived at 

 Wyalla Lake, one hundred miles north, on the 19th September, they were choosing their nesting 

 sites in the dead timber in the lake, but no eggs had been laid. In the Box trees which line 

 the watercourses emptying into Bawcannia Lake, numbers of these little Parrakeets were seeking 

 out breeding hollows, but it was not until we returned to Langawirra Station that we found 

 their eggs ; here they showed a decided preference for nesting in dead stumps and trees standing 

 round the Box flats rather than green timber. The first eggs were laid about the 26th Septeinber, 

 and they were still laying when we left in the first week in October. The hollows chosen were 

 usually from six inches to one foot in depth, with an entrance about one and a half to two 

 inches in diameter, the eggs, four or five in number, resting on the earthy material at the bottom. 

 A few tell tale feathers usually adhere to the entrance." 



Mr. G. A. Keartland, of Melbourne, wrote me as follows :-" ,1/(7()/'s;7i'(r('»s uudulatus is 

 undoubtedly the most sociable of our Grass-Parrakeets. In breeding the nests are close together, 

 and at all times, whether feeding in the grass or visiting their watering places, they are always 

 in flocks. I have looked along the tube of a hollow branch in which about twenty birds were 



