78 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



Wales will recognize in this lovely species an old favourite, 

 for it must have often come under their notice ; during my 

 own rambles in that country my attention was constantly at- 

 tracted by its beautiful outspread tail and wings as it rose 

 before me. Its sole food being the seeds of grasses and of 

 the smaller annuals, it spends much of its time on the ground, 

 and appears to evince a greater partiality for stony ridges than 

 for the rich alluvial flats. When flushed it flies off to a short 

 distance between the trees, perches on some dead branch and 

 remains there until hunger impels it to return to the ground. 

 I have never seen this bird congregated in large flocks like 

 the Euphema chrysostoma and E. elegans\ but usually met with 

 it in small companies of six or eight in number. 



I did not succeed in finding a nest of this species, though I 

 doubt not that it was breeding in the district of the Upper 

 Hunter at the time I visited it. Mr. Caley states, on the au- 

 thority of the natives, that it lays eight white eggs in the hole 

 of a tree. 



The sexes differ so little in colour, that dissection must be 

 resorted to to distinguish them. 



Forehead, stripe over the eye, cheeks, shoulders, and lesser 

 wing-coverts rich metallic greenish blue ; crown of the head, 

 back of the neck, upper surface, and flanks bright olive-green ; 

 a bright spot of chestnut-red at the insertion of the wings, 

 primaries and secondaries deep blue on their outer webs, 

 and blackish brown on the inner ; chest, centre of the abdo- 

 men, and under tail-coverts rich yellow; fom' middle tail- 

 feathers green, the remainder green at the base and largely 

 tipped with yellow ; bill and feet dark brown. 



In size the Euphema pulchella is about the same as the 

 Rock-Parrakeet, whose admeasurements are given on the pre- 

 ceding page. 



