FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



Eastern Australia from Wide Bay district to New South. 

 Wales and the interior. 



The wild life of this species appears to -be unknown, 

 though it would doubtless correspond closely with that 

 of the Roeella Parrakeet. It is a very rarely imported 

 bird, and is not recorded in the ninth edition of the 

 London Zoological Society's list; nor does Russ men- 

 tion it in his " Handbook." I include it on the 

 authority of the author of " Parrakeets. " 



STANLEY PARRAKEET (Platycercus icterotis). 



Crown of the head, back of neck, chest, and under - 

 surface crimson ; cheeks and thighs yellow ; back black, 

 each, feather bordered with green, yellow, and some- 

 times crimson ; rump and upper tail-coverts golden- 

 green ; shoulders and outer edges of the primaries blue, 

 the tips and inner webs blackish-brown ; the two cen- 

 tral tail-feathers green, the remainder light blue, tipped 

 with white, their basal portion being darker and 

 with a greenish shade ; beak light horn-colour, legs dull 

 ashy-brown ; iris of eye blackish-brown. Female appar- 

 ently greener than the male, and with a less swollen 

 beak; it is .said to have very little red in its plumage. 

 Hab.. South- Western Australia. 



Mr. Gould tells us "it is one of the most common 

 birds in the country, and. except in the breeding season, 

 may always be seen in large flocks, which approach so 

 near the houses of the settlers as frequently to visit 

 their gardens. The flight of this Parrakeet is of short 

 duration, .and consists of a series of rather rapid undu- 

 lating sweeps; it usually feeds on the ground, eating 

 seeds of various grasses, but not infrequently it also 

 attacks unprotected' ripe fruit in gardens; its note is a 

 feeble, piping kind of whistle, which is occasionally so 

 much varied and lengthened as almost to assume the 

 character of a song." Its six or seven white eggs are 

 deposited in holes in, large trees, without any form of 

 nest. 



Some of our readers may remember Mrs. Pretyman's 

 beautiful example, and the illustration of it which 

 appeared in The Feathered World. I don't think I 

 have ever seen a second specimen. Why are these com- 

 mon Parrakeets so seldom brought home? Do they die 

 on the journey from Australia, or does it pay better 

 only to import a few and get higher prices for them? 

 Even in Germany the price of the Stanley Parrakeet, 

 according to Rues, is " very high on account of its 

 rarity," and yet it is quite common. 



The London Zoological Society received its first 

 example of the " Stanley Broadtail " in exchange in 

 1864. and, from first to last, something like a dozen 

 f pecimens must have been exhibited at the Gardens, the 

 last recorded in the ninth edition of the " List of Ani- 

 mals" being deposited in 1893. 



PILEATED PARRAKEET (Porphyrocephalus* spurius). 



Back, scapulars and upper wing-coverts green ; rump 

 rmd upper tail-coverts greenish-yellow, the longest of 

 the latter green; front edge of wing, primary-coverts 

 and primaries at base of outer webs dark blue ; central 

 tail-feathers green, changing to deep blue towards the 

 tips ; lateral feathers green at base, crossed by a black 

 band, then changing to blue, which becomes paler 

 towards the tips, the third and fourth pairs with white 

 tips ; crown deep maroon-red ; lores dusky-red ; cheeks 

 yellowish-green; sides of neck yellower; breast and 



* Characterised by its long, slender upper mandible, which; 

 is notched and terminates in a long hook. Accordin.g' to Mr 

 Seth^Smith it should be treated, in captivity like the King 

 1'a.rrakeet (Aprrsmictui). 



abdomen violaceous blue ; vent greenish-yellow, with 

 broad red tips to the feathers ; thighs red, whitish at 

 base of feathers ; under wing-coverts deep blue ; under 

 tail-coverts red ; beak horn-colour ; feet dull brown :. 

 irides dark brown. Female smaller, duller, and with 

 a lighter beak. Hab., Western Australia, from King, 

 George's Sound to Port Essington. 



Gould says of this species ("Handbook," Vol. II... 

 pp. 60, 61) : " It is usually seen in small families feed- 

 ing on the ground, but upon what kind of food it 

 subsists has not been ascertained. The breeding season 

 extends over the months of October, November, and 

 December. The hollow dead branch of a gum or 

 mahogany tree is the place usually chosen by the female- 

 for the reception of the eggs, which are milk-white, and 

 from seven to nine in number, about an inch and an 

 eighth long by seven-eighths of an inch broad. 



"The flight of this species, although swift, is not 

 of long duration, nor is it characterised by those un- 

 dulating sweeps common to the members of the genus- 

 Platycercus. Its voice is a sharp clucking note, several 

 times repeated, in which respect it also offers a marked' 

 difference from those birds." 



According to Mr. A. J. Campbell, this Parrakeet. 

 loves "to feed upon the kernel of the native pear 

 (Xylomelum) when the fruit opens under the summer 

 sun." 



This is a rarely imported species, of which an 

 example was exhibited for several years at the- 

 Crystal Palace. The late Dr. Greene also had a 

 specimen, which he describes in his " Parrots in Cap- 

 tivity," Vol. III., p. 8. According to Russ, Mr. 

 Abrahams imported it on several occasions. It first 

 came into the possession of the London Zoological 

 Society in 1854, and others were purchased subse- 

 quently. 



The genus Barnarctius chiefly differs structurally from 

 Platycercus in the want of the notch in the uppei 

 mandible ; the character of its colouring also differs. It 

 requires the same treatment in captivity, and altogether 

 seems much more closely related to the true Broadtails- 

 than Porphyrocephalus. 



BARNARD'S PARRAKEET (Barnardius barnardi). 



Various shades of green represent the chief colouring 

 of this Parrakeet; but the forehead is crimson; tin 

 lower part of the cheeks bluish; a broad olive brown 

 band crossing the crown to the eyes, and behind this a 

 yellow crescent across the nape ; back bluish-grey - 

 primaries and bastard wing black edged with blue- 

 externally, but the apical half of the outer webs of the 

 primaries grey; lesser wing-coverts deep blue; central 

 tail feathers deep blue at the tips ; other feathers 

 deep blue, becoming bluish-white at the tips ; centre of 

 abdomen crossed by a broad orange crescent ; beak 

 horn-colour ; feet brown ; iris dark brown. Female- 

 smaller, duller, the back greener, the beak shorter ancf 

 less powerful. Hab., South Australia. New South- 

 Wales, and the Interior. 



Gould says that : "To see Barnard's Parrakeet irr 

 perfection, and to observe its rich plumage in all it* 

 glory, the native country of the bird must be visited. 

 its brooks and streamlets traced ; for it is principally 

 on the banks of the latter, either among the ' higli- 

 flooded gums ' or the large shrub-like trees along the 

 edges of the water, that this beautiful species is seen, 

 and where the brilliant hues of its expanded wings and 1 

 tail show very conspicuously as it passes from tree t(. 

 tree amidst the dark masses of foliage. 



"It is generally met with in small companies of 



