VI PSITT ACIDAE 307 
forests; it climbs well and walks swiftly, but has such lmited 
powers of flight that the natives hunt it on foot by torch-light, or 
with dogs, which are often seriously wounded by the powerful bill. 
The note is a croak, grunt, or shriek. Two or three eggs, as large 
as those of a pullet, are deposited in burrows under tree-roots or 
rocks, without any nest. It makes a tame and playful pet.' 
Sub-fam. 2. Psittacinae—Of this group the nocturnal (eo- 
psittacus occidentalis of South and West Australia, and Pezoporus 
formosus of the same countries and Tasmania, somewhat resemble 
Stringops in general coloration. The latter, which has an orange 
frontal band, rarely resorts to trees, but crouches, skulks, or trusts 
to its great running powers, flying at most only some hundred 
yards, with a rapid twisting motion. It haunts sandy plains or 
marshy districts, laying two or three eggs on a bedding of grass 
and rushes in long tussocks of herbage. 
Our common cage-bird, Melopsittacus undulatus, the Australian 
Grass-Parakeet or Budgerigar, has a yellow head, with three 
black cheek-spots surmounted by a blue patch; the nape, back, 
and wing-coverts are yellow with black transverse markings, the 
remiges brown with green outer webs and yellow margins, the 
rump and under parts green, the two long median rectrices blue, 
the lateral tail-feathers green banded with yellow. These grace- 
ful and lively little birds are partly terrestrial, often flocking in 
thousands to feed upon the seeds of grasses, while they sit 
motionless during the heat among the foliage. The flight is 
quick and direct; the note shrill, or warbling; the conduct of 
individuals towards one another amicably quarrelsome. From 
three to six eges are deposited in hollow branches, with no nest. 
The name Grass-Parakeet is shared with Neophema of Southern 
Australia and Tasmania, distinguished by a blue frontal band some- 
times extending around the eyes. V. petrophila, the Rock-Parakeet, 
breeds in holes in steep cliffs near water, V. pulchella also shewing 
a liking for rocks. Porphyrocephalus spurius of West Australia 
has a maroon crown and nape, green upper parts, black remiges 
with blue bases and primary coverts, and blue lower surface with 
scarlet and yellow vent. The flight is swift, the note clucking. 
Of the beautiful Australian genus Platycercus, P. elegans, also 
found in Norfolk Island, may serve as an example: it is crimson- 
red with black on the dorsal feathers ; the cheeks, bend of the wing, 
1 Cf. Buller, Birds of New Zealand, 2nd ed., i. London, 1888, pp. 176-191. 
