174 



FLATYCr.HCIN.K. 



near La I'erouse, also lietweeii Xarrabeen and Manly, but I am afraid tliat the numerous Quail 

 sliooters have killed most of them in these parts." 



Mr. I'ercy IVir, of Campsie, near Sydney, sends me tiie following' notes: — "About 

 I.S.St 1 had a pair of Ground-Parrakeets I I'l-zoponis fonihism) wliich were caught near 

 a swamp, the present site, of tlie Kensington Racecourse, close to Sydney. They lived 

 for some years, but were rather uninteresting, never perching, but always spent their time on 

 the ground. I iia\e seen these Ijirds on and off since that time, and often found tail-feathers 

 scattered about near the edges of swamps at the back of Long Bay and ISotany, the birds 

 evidently having fallen victims t.> Natix'e Cats or other enemies. I was in company with Mr. 

 T. Whitelegge when he found a nest and three eggs at Maroubra. 'J'lie nest was situated in a 

 swampy flat, not far from the Long ISay road, and although left untouched for a week, no more 

 eggs were laid, the birds evidently having deserted the nest. I saw a pair about two years ago, 

 near a swamp close by Newcastle Racecourse, and at the local Agricultural Show a rather 



rough specimen \v;is exhibited and 

 I atalogued as a ' .Mailden's Lrairie 

 I 'arrot.' " 



From notes made by I^r. I 



I lolden, in Tasmania, 1 ha\e e.\- 

 tracted the following : — " Pir.nponis 

 lormosns is always found in the open, 

 in swampy heath lands, or turnip 

 fields. It takes \ ery short flights 

 ,ind dodges about on the wing ; 

 when it alights it runs for some 

 distance before rising again. It is 

 often flushed by Uuail shooters. 

 Mr. E. D. .\tkinson, while riding, 

 found a nest on the i2th October, 



*'llgrr|^^<i^«m^ near Montagu. It was in heathy 



i^S..y£f,^Sm»i^S^^^..V'-^^'::-3^'if^^.i4f''s,AaSW<4m .round, under a tussock of button 



ciKOUND-PAKKAKKKTs NEHr AND KGGS. grass, and Well coucealed ; the earth 



had been scratched out to a deep 

 cup shape and then lined with dry coarse grass. It contained three beautiful white rounded eggs, 

 quite fresh. The bird was flushed oft and almost underneath the horse's feet. Seven more 

 birds were flushed, but no other nest found. Mr. Atkinson says these birds generally run 

 from the nest a short distance before rising when they are disturbed. I limited over the big 

 plain at Mcaitagu on the 31st October, iSS<), for the nest of this species, but without success, 

 and flushed these birds. On the loth June, iS.Sy, I saw one on the swampy edge of the l*!astern 

 Inlet. In March, igoo, I saw one at Wentworth, Bellerive, near Ilobart. I flushed it beside 

 the path leading to the house, and it flew into a maize field adjoining the garden." 



Mr. E. 1). Atkinson writes me as follows from Waratah, Mount Bischoll, Tasmania : "' 1 

 have often seen Pczopvrus furmosus, locally known as the " Swamp Parrakeet," when riding o\er 

 the plains in the north-west part of Tasmania ; also in the open country on Flinders Island and 

 the Hunter Group in Bass Strait. When flushed it flies quickly, taking a zig-zag course, and 

 darting to the ground again at a short distance. I have never yet seen it perch." 



A nest taken at iVliddle TTarbour, Sydney, in iSyy, containing three eggs, is composed of 

 rushes and wiry grass, bitten into suitable lengths and bent round and interwo\en here and 



