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g»PLENDID fjARRAKEET. 



Psittacus splendidus , Puss. 



Synonyms: Euphema splendida, Gld., Gr.; Euphema cliry so stoma, Wgl. 



German: Der Glauzsittich. 



THE vast, sparsely timbered plains of Western Australia, clad during 

 part of the year with abundant verdure, chiefly consisting of a 

 strong coarse grass, known to the settlers by the name of Kangaroo- 

 grass, from the partiality with which it is regarded by the herb- 

 ivorous Marsupials in general, and the Kangaroos and Wallabies in 

 particular, afford a secure asylum for a number of beautiful Parrakeets, 

 many of which are extremely local in their distribution, and two or 

 three of which are, perhaps, even better entitled to the specific desig- 

 nation splendidus than the subject of the present notice, upon whom 

 it has been bestowed by several authors. 



"Every eye", says the proverb, "makes its own beauty"; that is to 

 say, every eye has its own standard of perfection, by which it measures, 

 often unconsciously, the objects that are being continually passed in 

 review before it, and not unfrequently the popular judgment is reversed 

 by a private decision; but, more frequently, the strongest views of a 

 single individual have to give way before the fiat of the majority, 

 which is exactly the case in the present instance, where we refrain 

 from pressing our private opinion on the public, in deference to that 

 of the ornithologists whose names are affixed to the synonyms of the 

 lovely bird that forms the subject of the present chapter. 



Pennant's Parrakeet, for instance, has been described under the specific 

 title "splendid" by a number of writers, and we think with better 

 judgment, but as that is a matter of opinion, we shall not, as we have 

 said, dispute the point; although so strong were the feelings of Shaw 

 upon the subject, that he went beyond even Gould in his admiration 

 for the bird to whom he applied the epithet of gloriosus, namely, the 

 grand Parrakeet named after Mr. Pennant. 



