THE GEEEN PAEOQUEET. 165 



and pointed. In fact, it is a tree-parrot with the foot of 

 the lark. It lives on the ground (but I have seen them 

 perch on the tea- tree scrub), runs much and quickly, is 

 hard to rise, flies in jerks, goes away very sharp before 

 a wind, and is very pretty shooting, rising from the grass 

 and heather. We used to find them during the whole 

 year, frequenting different localities at different times ; 

 and although they could scarcely be said to flock, I 

 generally rose three or four on the same spot. Dogs 

 will set them like quail. 



Another splendid parrot is the Green Leek, and this 

 was by far the rarest of all the species with us ; for I 

 only knew of one example being killed, and this was an 

 old bird, on a dry sandy rise near a swamp. It is about 

 the size of the last, which it rather resembled in shape ; 

 but the beak is larger, and the tail not so long. The 

 body colour is dark leek-green, the head yellow, the 

 throat and breast orange and yellow. I know very little 

 of its habits, but I believe it is common on the stringy 

 and iron bark ranges. 



The commonest of all the paroqueets is the common 

 Green Paroq^ueet, which in shape and habits rather 

 resembled the blue mountaineer, with which bird they 

 much associated. They were both honey-eaters, and 

 their migrations were regulated by the same causes. 

 Although in general much commoner than the blue 

 mountaineer, at certain times they would disappear 

 altogether from the forest, and then again come " not 

 as single spies, but in battalions." This bird is about 



