278 Mr. ViGORs's and Dr. Hoksfield's Description of the 



]3ut they are not equally well adapted to the ground as the spe- 

 cies of Flatycercns, not having an equal length of tarsus, or the 

 same shortness and roundness of wing. The gradual approach, 

 however, of the two genera, both in characters and habits, is 

 singularly conspicuous. 



JNIr. Caley says of this species, — ^" The native name I have 

 forgotten. The settlers call it Ground Parrot. It feeds upon 

 the ground. Great care is required in taking otf the skin, from 

 its being particularly fine and thin, and readily torn. The crop is 

 generally full of small grass-seeds ; and should it be cut or torn, 

 so as to let these seeds out among the feathers, it is with dif- 

 ficulty they are got oft' again, from their having become glu- 

 tinous in the stomach. The natives tell me it chiefly breeds in 

 a stump of a small JFItitc Gum-free, making no other nest than 

 of the decayed parts of the tree. It has eight young ones. The 

 eggs are white without spots." 



4. Venustus. N. olivaceo-viridis, suhtus Jlamis, tœniù frontali, 

 tectricibus, rcctricihusque lazuUnis, harum apice, loris, peri- 

 ophthalmiisque jlavis, remigibus nigris. 



Psittacus venustus. Temm. Linn. Trans, vol. xiii. p. 121. 



Psittacus chrysostomus. Kalil, Nova Acta «^c- vol. 10. p. 50. 

 no. 78. tab. 1. 



Blue-banded Parakeet. Lath. Gen. Hist. ii. p. 188. 7io. lOp. 



Mr. Caley informs us that this bird is called by the settlers 

 Hobarf Ground Parrot. The native name he has not ascertained. 

 Our male specimen was brought by that gentleman from Van 

 Diemen's Land ; the female was procured by Mr. Brown at King 

 George's Sound. 



Genus. Platvcekcus*, 

 Rostrum breviusculum, mandibulù superior! rotundatâ dilatatâ, 



* nxarvi latus, and xsgxoj cauda. 



inferior! 



