199 



BLUE-BANDED NANODES. 



Nanodes venustus. VIG. et HORSF. 



PLATE XX VII. 



Nanodes venustus, Vig. et Horsf. Linn. Trans, b. 15, p. 278. 

 Euphemia chrysostoma, Wag. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand. 

 $c., p. 492 and 544, No. 2 Psitt. chrysostomos, Kuhl, 

 Conspec. Psitt. in Nova Acta, <J-c., p. 50, No. 78. Psitt. 

 venustus, Temminck in Trans. Linn. Soc. b. 13, p. 121. 

 Blue-banded Parrakeet, Latham's Gen. Hist. ii. p. 188, 

 No. 109. 



THIS pretty species, whose extreme length is 

 about nine inches and a-half, of which the tail alone 

 measures four, is a native of New Holland and Van 

 Diemen's Land, in which island it is called the Ho- 

 bart Ground Parrot, an adjective epithet, which evi- 

 dently points to its terrestrial habits, and these are 

 further indicated by its lengthened tarsi and toes, 

 which in this and Nanodes pulchellus, a nearly al- 

 lied and still more beautiful species, closely resemble 

 those members, as exhibited in the genus Pezoporus, 

 Jllig., or Proper Ground Parrot. It feeds upon the 

 seeds of various grasses, and is generally seen upon 

 the ground. As a site for its nest, it selects a hole 

 or excavation in the stump of an Eucalyptus or gum 



