Grass Parakeets 477 



the adult male of which is largely a deep, rich crimson, set off on cheeks and 

 shoulders with cerulean blue. It frequents grassy hills and brushes as well 

 as open glades in the forest, and, says Mr. Campbell, "when a flock is seen 

 passing through the forest they describe, as it were, so many streaks of the richest 

 crimson coloring." The nesting habits are similar to those of other species. 



Introducing a group of half a dozen genera, in which the back is uniform, is 

 the Red-capped Parakeet, or King Parrot (Porphyrocephalus spurius), of West 

 Australia, which is the sole tenant of its genus. It is a very handsome bird 

 about fifteen inches long, with the forehead, crown, and nape deep maroon-red, 

 the cheeks yellowish green, the rump jonquil-yellow, and the edges of the shoulders 

 and the bases of the primaries deep blue, while the wings are deep black and 

 the breast and abdomen blue, with vent and under tail-coverts scarlet. This 

 species is usually seen in small families feeding on the ground, though the nature 

 of its food is not well understood, yet Campbell states that it loves to feed upon 

 the kernel of the native pear. Its voice is a sharp clucking note several times 

 repeated, and its nest is located in a hollow tree. 



Grass Parakeets. Belonging to the same family group, but much better 

 known, are the pretty little Grass Parakeets (Neophema), the seven species of 

 which are also confined to Australia and Tasmania. The bill is uniform in color, 

 deeper than long, and not notched, while the four central tail-feathers are of 

 about the same length, a character which separates them from a closely allied 

 genus. The Grass Parakeets are largely terrestrial in their habits, spending 

 much time amongst tangled grasses and reeds, through which they run with 

 celerity, and on the seeds of which they largely subsist. Probably the most 

 abundant and best-known is the Elegant Grass Parakeet (N. elegans) of South 

 and West Australia, where Mr. Gould says it appears to prefer the barren and 

 sandy belts bordering the coast, but occasionally resorts to the more distant in- 

 terior. "Flocks were constantly rising before me while traversing the salt 

 marshes; they were feeding upon the seeds of grasses and various other plants 

 which were there abundant; in the middle of the day, or when disturbed, they 

 retreated to the thick banksias that grew on sandy ridges in the immediate 

 neighborhood, and in such numbers that I have seen the trees literally covered 

 with them." Mr. Gilbert also speaks of finding them in myriads about several 

 pools, there being no other water for many miles around. This species is about 

 nine inches long and has a bar of deep indigo-blue across the forehead, while 

 the lores are rich yellow, the head, cheeks, back, and shoulders greenish blue, 

 the secondaries blue and the primaries black, and the under parts greenish yel- 

 low becoming bright yellow on the abdomen. Another member of the genus is 

 known as the Rock Parakeet (N. petrophila), being confined to the rocky islets 

 of the coast of Southwest Australia, where it places its four or five eggs in a crevice 

 of a rock or under shelving stones. It is distinguished from the other members 

 by having the lores and a circle surrounding the eyes of a pale verditer-blue 

 instead of yellow or greenish yellow. 



Crested Parakeets. Still within the limits of the half a dozen genera 

 above mentioned is the genus Nymphicus, which is distinguished by the presence 



