66 A NATURALIST IN TASMANIA ch. 



One of the few mellow- voiced birds in Tasmania 

 is the Thrush or Whistling Dick (Colluricincla 

 selbii), a slaty-grey bird about the size of our Song 

 Thrush, and with a rather similar voice and habit. 

 It is peculiar to Tasmania, and very common ; the 

 bill is long and powerful and it feeds upon grubs 

 and insects. 



An interesting Ground Thrush (Oreocincla lunu- 

 lata) occurs in the thickest part of the scrub on 

 Mount Wellington, and, since it practically never 

 flies but hops about the dense bushes, it is difficult 

 to get a sight of one. The note, however, which 

 is a low mournful whistle, is a most characteristic 

 sound on the mountain, and often one can hear 

 it in the thick bush a few yards off without ever 

 finding the bird. This peculiar note, the only 

 sound the bird ever emits, has given rise to the 

 name of Moper Thrush. Occasionally the bird, 

 when suddenly startled, will hop off the ground on 

 to a fallen log, and it can then be seen to be a 

 very large brown Thrush beautifully barred with 

 crescentic black markings. 



Most attractive of all to the stranger are the 

 birds of the Parrot tribe ; in the forests on Mount 

 Wellington two kinds are met with, one of which, 

 the Yellow-bellied Parakeet {Platycercus flavi' 

 ventris), a fine green and yellow bird with blue 

 wings and a very long tail, which feeds almost 

 entirely on seeds, and when startled emits a 

 curious cry, cusselc, cussek, in rapid succession. 

 It builds its nest in holes of the Gum-trees. 



