PLAT^CERCUS ELAVIVENTEIS. 



(Yellow-bellied Parrakeet.) 



FoEEHEAD, scarlet ; crown of the head and back of the neck, pale yellow, each feather slightly margined with brown ; space under the eye, 

 dull scarlet ; cheeks, blue ; back and shoulders, dark olive black, each feather edged with green ; shoulders and middle portions of the wing, 

 blue ; the primaries, blue at the base of their external edges ; the remainder, blackish brown ; rump and two middle tail feathers, green ; 

 the remaining tail feathers, dark blue at the base, and lighter towards their tips ; under surface, yellow ; bill, flesh-color ; feet, greyish brown. 

 The female is smaller and less brilliant than the male. 



Length, 13 inches ; wing, 7i ; tail, 8 ; tarsus, 1. 



This species is limited to Tasmania and the islands of Bass's Straits. - It is gregarious in every description of locality, but 

 principally seen on the ground, over which it runs with great agility. It feeds principally upon grass seeds, but insects and the flowers of 

 gum trees serve to give some variety to its diet. In the neighborhood of farms and homesteads it is frequently so tame as to dispute the 

 food dealt out to the poultry. It is hardy, and thrives very well in a cage 



It breeds from September to January, and lays its eggs in the hole of a gum tree ; they are six or eight in number, 

 and pure w^hite. 



PLATYCERCUS BARNARDI. 



(Barnard's Parrakeet.) 



FoEEHEAD, crimson ; crown, cheeks, chest, abdomen, central portion of the wing, and rump, verditer green ; occiput, brow^n, beneath which 

 is a collar of light yellow ; back, dark grey ; centre of the abdomen, orange ; shoulder and upper coverts, deep blue ; primaries and spurious 

 wing, black ; the basal portions of the former, deep blue ; the two central tail feathers, dark green, passing into deep blue at the tip ; the 

 lateral feathers, dark blue at the base, gradually fading into bluish white at the tips ; bill, bluish horn color ; feet, brown. The sexes are 

 almost, alike, the male being the brightest. 



Length, 13 inches ; wing, 6i ; tail, 7-g- ; tarsus, f . 



This elegant species may be regarded as one of the finest of the Platycerci. Like its congeners, it is equally at home among 

 the trees and on the ground, and it procures its food in both situations. Its stronghold is the Murray, Darling, and Namoi rivers, in which 

 localities it may be met with in companies of five or ten. When alarmed and caused to take flight simultaneously, the sight is beautiful, as 

 in the full blaze of the sunshine its gorgeous coloring shows to the best advantage. 



