IIOUN EXPEDITION NAUUATIVE. lUl 



Ml. Ko;ull;iiid was t'uituuate enough iu uljLaiu lit'tccii and since tliat time 

 tliuUL;li they were very rare indeed before they seem fmm some cause to have 

 a|i|ieared in considerable numbers at one or two spots, such as the Hah; River to 

 the east of Alice Spiings and at Illamurta in the James Range during the early 

 summer months (November) of 1894, but since then they have again disappeared. 



This sj)oradic appearance both in space and time of various forms of animals 

 is vei'y ciiaractt'ristic of many Central Australian species. Perhaps for the space 

 of a month, owing doubtless to the occurrence of a combination of favouial)le 

 circumstances, an animal will suddeidy become abundant and then as sudtlenly 

 again Ijecome rare, only to reappear after tlie lapse, it may Ije, of several seasons. 



The pre.sence of a peculiar, spatulate, third pi'imary feather in the wing of the 

 adult male has caused Mr. North, in whose hands the birds secured during the 

 E.vpedition weu; placed for description, to separate the species from the genus 

 Polytelis in which it was jilaced by Gould and to place it in a new genus to which, 

 in allusion to the pre.sence of this peculiar feather, lie has give)i the name of 

 Spathopteius. 



Its food evidently consists mainly of grass seeds and according to Mr. 

 Pritchard — one of the prospectors accompanying our party — who has seen a con- 

 siderable nundjer <jf specimens since our return the birds nest in hollow trees, often 

 several pairs occupying one tree, and lay live eggs in a clutch. Mr. Keartland 

 experienced consideraJjle dilliculty in distinguishing the birds owing to their 

 curious habit of "lying along the stout limbs of the tree like a lizard," instead of 

 adopting the style of most other Parrots and pei>ching on a twig or thin branch, 

 Mr. Pritchard however writing in November, 189f, to Mr. Keartland said : "This 

 is the lirst time on recoi'd that they have made this {i.e., the Hale Rivei' to the 

 east of Alice Sjjrings) their breeding ground, but I do not think that they have 

 come to stay, and perhaps in a year or so they may be as rare as ever. 

 They live in hollow trees, laying five eggs in a clutch, and sever'al pairs of birtls 

 occupy holes in the same tree. They are nesting now in the Eucalypts on the 

 banks of the Hale River and other large watercourses. They do not always lie 

 along the limbs as you found them afc tUen Edith, but perch as other Parrots. 1 

 have a number of them in captivity, amongst them being an old male Ijird witii a 

 tail seventeen inches lomr." 



