THE PARADISE PARROT TRAGEDY 177 



There was no response to the inquiry. The Para- 

 dise Parrot, it appeared, had been lost in annihila- 

 tion's waste. 



So it seemed to ornithologists in Australia, and 

 so it seemed to Mr. Gregory Mathews in England. 

 "It is a matter for deep regret," he wrote in The 

 Birds of Australia (1917), "that this most beautiful 

 of Parrots appears to have become extinct without 

 any lasting record of its life-history being made 

 known." Further, in referring to another Parrot, 

 not yet uncommon, Mr. Mathews advised study 

 "before it becomes extinct, like its congener, P. pul- 

 cherrimus." 



That was the position when, in the middle of 1918, 

 the subject was taken up afresh in Queensland, the 

 former stronghold (!) of the missing bird. Hints 

 gathered in conversation with old settlers had indi- 

 cated that further search would be at least worth 

 while. Accordingly, letters on the point, bearing 

 the query-caption, "Is It Lost?" were directed to and 

 published by the leading daily newspapers of Bris- 

 bane and the Darling Downs. The response was 

 prompt. It was also partially satisfactory. Most 

 of the replies dealt with the species only from a 

 posthumous viewpoint, but, again, there were hints 

 that served to strengthen the belief that odd mem- 

 bers "the ever-blessed residuum" of the beautiful 

 species might yet be found. 



Well, for three years the benevolent pursuit of the 

 "lost" Parrot was continued intermittently. And 

 intermittently there continued to float in suggestions 

 and whispers regarding the existence and where- 

 abouts of odd members of the species. Occasionally, 



