I08 '^'^^'v Feathers. [.nf'oct. 



An Unusual Crimson Parrot. — Another curiosity received 

 during June is a female specimen of Platycercus elegans, the 

 common Lowry or Crimson Parrot, showing a wonderful variation 

 from the normal. It presents the most beautiful instance of 

 xanthochroism that I have seen, the whole of the usual black 

 and dark blue being absent, and replaced by very pale yellow 

 and blue. The head, neck, rump, and breast are bright crimson ; 

 cheeks and shoulders pale blue ; back pale yellow, with each 

 feather narrowly margined with crimson ; wings and tail cream 

 colour, with just a tinge of blue in some of the outer feathers. 

 The bird was shot near here while in company with a small flock 

 of normally-coloured " Lowries." A good skin has been made of 

 it.— H. L. White. Belltrees, N.S.W., 14/8/16. 



Swifts Resting on Trees.— I would like to know if any of your 

 members have seen Swifts resting on trees. On ist February, 

 1898, my mother and I were watching the progress of a bush-fire 

 before a strong east wind (we were very anxious, as all the men 

 were away working at it), when we noticed a very large flock of 

 Swifts, and their movements were peculiar, we thought, and as 

 we watched they settled on the trees — not as ordinary birds do, 

 on the horizontal limbs, but on the trunks of the trees and the 

 perpendiciilar branches, clinging on sideways, as Wood-Swallows 

 {Artamiis) sometimes do. I have never met anyone yet who 

 has ^een them resting. My mother thought the air being so very 

 smoky had something to do with it. That summer was very 

 hot and dry in this district, and the Swifts came in great numbers. 

 They used to fly low over the grass — to catch grasshoppers, we 

 thought. Also I would like to ask if anyone has noticed how 

 they come in a large flock in front of a thunderstorm. — K. Currie. 

 Lardner. 



* * * 



Early Combination Cuckoo Clutch. — My nephew, Mr. C. C. 

 Hook, on 26th August, 1916, found at Ringwood a nest of the 

 Victorian Brown Tit, Acanthiza pusilla macularia {Acanthiza 

 pusilla), ready for eggs, and on visiting it again on 3rd September, 

 1916, he found in it two eggs of the Acanthiza, one egg of the 

 Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Cacomantis ntbricatiis ritbricatus {Cacomantis 

 flabelliformis), and one egg of the Narrow-billed Bronze-Cuckoo, 

 Neochalcites basalts mellori [Chalcococcyx basalts). The nest and 

 contents had evidently been forsaken, as the Tits had built another 

 nest right on top, the opening of which was to the right of the 

 bottom nest. Both nests were built of similar materials — viz., 

 dry grasses, a few shreds of bark and moss, and lined with feathers. 

 This peculiar structure was placed one foot from the ground, 

 in a bunch of dead prickly tea-tree, on the bank of a creek at 

 the foot of the hill. Both the Cuckoos and the Brown Tit were 

 heard calling in the vicinity. — A. Chas. Stone. 71 Tivoli-road, 

 South Yarra. 



