PSITTACIDAE 367 



forests ; it climbs well and walks swiftly, but bas such limited 

 powers of fligbt that the natives hunt it on foot by torch-light, or 

 with dogs, which are often seriously wounded by the powerful bill. 

 The note is a croak, grunt, or shriek. Two or three eggs, as large 

 as those of a pullet, are deposited in burrows under tree-roots or 

 rocks, without any nest. It makes a tame and playful pet.^ 



Sub-fam. 2. Psittacinae. — Of this group the nocturnal Geo- 

 psittacus occidentalis of South and West Australia, and Pezoporus 

 formosus of the same countries and Tasmania, somewhat resemble 

 Stringops in general coloration. The latter, which has an orange 

 frontal band, rarely resorts to trees, but crouches, skulks, or trusts 

 to its great running powers, flying at most only some hundred 

 yards, with a rapid twisting motion. It haunts sandy plains or 

 marshy districts, laying two or three eggs on a bedding of grass 

 and rushes in long tussocks of herbage. 



Our common cage-bird, Melopsittacus undulatus, the Australian 

 Grass -Parakeet or Budgerigar, has a yellow head, with three 

 black cheek-spots surmounted by a blue patch ; the nape, back, 

 and wing-coverts are yellow with black transverse markings, the 

 remiges brown with green outer webs and yellow margins, the 

 rump and under parts green, the two long median rectrices blue, 

 the lateral tail-feathers green banded with yellow. These grace- 

 ful and lively little birds are partly terrestrial, often flocking in 

 thousands to feed upon the seeds of grasses, while they sit 

 motionless during the heat among the foliage. The flight is 

 quick and direct ; the note shrill, or warbling ; the conduct of 

 individuals towards one another amicably quarrelsome. From 

 three to six eggs are deposited in hollow branches, with no nest. 

 The name Grass-Parakeet is shared with Neophema of Southern 

 Australia and Tasmania, distinguished by a blue frontal band some- 

 times extending around the eyes. N. petropliila, the Eock-Parakeet, 

 breeds in holes in steep cliffs near water, N. pulcliella also shewing 

 a liking for rocks. Porphyrocephalus spurius of West Australia 

 has a maroon crown and nape, green upper parts, black remiges 

 with blue bases and primary coverts, and blue lower surface with 

 scarlet and yellow vent. The flight is swift, the note clucking. 



Of the beautiful Australian genus Platycercus, P. elegans, also 

 found in ISTorfolk Island, may serve as an example : it is crimson- 

 red with black on the dorsal feathers ; the cheeks, bend of the wing, 



1 Cf. Buller, Birds of New Zealand, 2nd ed., i. London, 1888, pp. 176-191. 



