50 BIRDS OP AUSTRALIA. 



they gradually assume the plumage of the adult, which is not 

 fully accomplished until the second or third year. 



Sp. 418. PLATYCERCUS FLAVEOLUS, (?o?//^. 



Yellow-rumped Parrakeet. 

 Platycercus fiaveolus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, Part V. p. 26. 



Platycercus flaveolus, Gould, Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v. pi. 25. 



I have no other information to communicate respecting this 

 beautiful Platycercus, than that it is an inhabitant of New 

 South Wales, and is abundant on the banks of the rivers 

 Lachlan and Darling. It was first sent to this country by 

 Captain Sturt. I also saw in the Museum at Sydney several 

 specimens which had been collected by Sir Thomas Mitchell 

 during his expeditions to the interior. In all these specimens 

 little or no variation in their plumage was observable — a 

 circumstance which induces me to suspect that, like the Rose- 

 hill Parrakeet, the young are clothed in a similar character 

 of plumage to that of the adults, or if not, that they gain the 

 full colouring at a very early age : the sexes offer no external 

 differences. 



Forehead crimson ; cheeks light blue ; crown of the head, 

 back of the neck, back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and all the 

 under surface pale yellow, the feathers of the back being black 

 in the centre and pale yellow on their outer edges ; middle of 

 the wing pale blue ; spurious wing and the outer web of the 

 basal portion of the primaries deep violet-blue, the remainder 

 of the primaries dark brown ; two central tail-feathers tinted 

 with green at the base, passing into blue towards the tip ; the 

 remaining feathers have the basal portion of their outer webs 

 deep blue, passing into very pale blue towards their tips ; the 

 inner webs brown for a greater or less portion of their length, 

 the extreme tips of all being white ; bill light horn-colour ; 

 feet dark brown. 



Total length 13 J inches ; wing 7 ; tail 7 J ; tarsi f . 



