132 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



dried, and becomes a dirty brown or sometimes nearly black, and 

 thus retains none of its former beauty when living. Flowers in 

 October and November. Found also in New tSoutli Wales, and in 

 Tasmania. 



( To be continued.') 



NOTES. 



While driving along the Hawthorn road, a short time ago, I 

 observed a specimen of the introduced English House Sparrow, 

 in which the tail and tail coverts were pure white. Was this the 

 result of a second growth, the former feathers having been pulled 

 out or lost from disease, or was it a mere aberration while a 

 nestling ? — T. P. Lucas. 



ON THE WAEBLING GRASS PARRAKEET. 



(^Melopstttacus undulatus.) 

 By T. A. Forbes-Leith. 



When these charming little parrakeets were first taken to England, 

 dealers could not supply the demand at £14 14s. per pair. The 

 colour of the crown is yellow, throat and cheeks vnth some fine blue 

 spots on each; at the top of the beak the male is blue, the female 

 brown. Breast, belly, and rump brilliant grass green. Black bars 

 and crescents on neck, back, shoulders, &c.; remainder of the wings 

 and centre tail feathers green and blue; shorter tail feathers blue, 

 with yeUow band down the centre. Length 7 inches. 



They are now so well known, being captured on the grassy plains 

 of Victoria, New South Wales, and South AustraHa in large numbers 

 annually for exportation, that a general description is all that is 

 necessary. 



I have abundant proof that these birds, as indeed most parrots, 

 can live entirely without water. One friend of mine kept a pair for 

 two years in this colony, and another friend a pair for three years in 

 England, and in neither case was water ever supplied or needed. It 

 is a common thing to take them home without giving them water on 

 the voyage. 



I have a pair at present, and the male has deserted his mate for 

 the company of a Java Sparrow, which he plays with and teases 

 alternately all day long, to the extreme disgust of his once much- 

 loved companion. These specimens are male and female, both of 

 which I had alive. I have known these parrakeets to breed in 

 confinement, and one pair that escaped in London 20 years ago 

 reared a brood of young in the Temple Gardens. 



