INSESSORES. 49 



Besides grass-seeds, the flowers of the Eucalypti with insects 

 and their larvas constitute a considerable portion of its food, 

 and it may be often seen very busily engaged about the 

 branches loaded with flowers in the depths of the forest far 

 away from any cleared lands. 



If we take into consideration the kind of food upon which 

 this bird subsists, we might naturally conclude that its flesh 

 would be delicate, tender, and well-flavoured. When I visited 

 Tasmania it was commonly eaten by the settlers, and it was 

 not long after my arrival before I tested its goodness, when I 

 found it so excellent that I partook of it whenever an oppor- 

 tunity for so doing presented itself. 



Holes in the large gum-trees afford this species a natural 

 breeding-place. The eggs, which are laid in September and 

 the three following months, are of a pure white colour, and 

 six or eight in number, one inch and two lines long by 

 eleven and a half lines broad. When the young are first 

 hatched they are covered with long, white down, and present 

 an appearance not very dissimilar to that of a round ball of 

 white cotton wool. 



Forehead crimson ; crown of the head and back of the 

 neck pale yellow, each feather very slightly margined with 

 brown ; space under the eye dull crimson ; cheeks blue ; 

 back and shoulders dark olive-black, each feather edged with 

 green ; middle of the wings blue ; the basal half of the pri- 

 maries blue on their external edges, the remainder blackish 

 brown ; rump and two middle tail-feathers green, the remain- 

 der of the tail-feathers dark blue at the base, lighter towards 

 the tip ; under surface of the body yellow ; bill flesh-colour ; 

 feet greyish brown. 



The adults of both sexes are very similar, but a consider- 

 able difference exists in birds of different ages, the young of 

 the year being greenish olive with a slight tinge of blue on the 

 cheeks, wings, and outer tail-feathers, and a faint indication 

 of the red mark on the forehead. As they advance in age 



VOL. II. E 



