under tail coverts ; rump, crossed by three distinct bands of yellowish green, dark green, and reddish chestnut, 
ending with upper tail coverts of pale green ; two centre tail feathers, green at base, merging into deep blue and 
black towards tip; two next feathers on either side lading into bluish green; all the tail feathers, except the 
four middle ones, crossed by a band of black near the base; bill, horn-colour; tarsi, brown. 
In appearance this bird is small and delicate-looking, slightly larger than Psephotus pulcherrimus, 
though the actual total length given varies from ten to eleven inches. 
Habitats ; New South Wales, Interior, Victoria, and South Australia. 
PSEPHOTUS H< E M ATONOTUS. (Gould.) 
BED-BUMPED, BED-BACKED, BLOOD-BUMPED PABBAKEET. Genus: Psephotus. 
fllll B Red- Humped I'arrakeet is a long, slender bird, clad in a prevailing green hue. It is hardy and prolific, 
I and is commonly found throughout the Eastern and South-Eastern Colonies of Australia, from Port 
Darwin to South Australia. Lt is one of the few exceptions to the " songless birds of Australia," for it has 
" a pleasing, whistling note, which is poured forth both while perching on the branches of the trees and while 
Hying over the plains." Among the Germans this singing propensity has earned for it the name of "Singsittich" 
— for it adapts itself so easily to circumstances, that it breeds and carries on its natural avocations almost as 
well in captivity as in a natural state. 
The Psephotus hoematonotus is terrestrial in its mode of life rather than arboreal, and runs over the 
ground with a graceful activity not generally observable among the Psittacidcc. During the winter it associates 
in Hocks of from twenty to a hundred, which run over the ground like Plovers in one great mass; yet each one 
is accompanied by his mate, to whom he is devotedly attached. Of a cheerful gregarious disposition, this species 
shows a decided preference for open grassy valleys and bare hill-tops, rather than wide and rolling plains. In 
the early morning whole flocks are to be seen perched on some leafless gum bough, sitting close together along 
the whole length of the branch, until they arc induced to descend by the pangs of hunger, or some hawk disperses 
them. Despite their terrestrial proclivities, these birds are very strong on the wing ; they wheel round and 
round in the sunshine, or dart in and out among the trees, w r ith marvellous quickness. 
The period of incubation lasts through the spring and into the summer, during which time a pair will 
rear three or four broods. Five or six eggs, white in colour, and measuring eleven lines long by eight lines 
and a-half broad, are laid without any nest in the spouts and hollows of gum trees. We are indebted to Mr. 
Archibald J. Campbell for the following interesting note : " The female of this graceful parrakeet appears 
solely to perform the task of incubation. I have watched her mate feeding her in or near the nest-hole. He 
performs the operation something after the manner of a common pigeon feeding its young, by connecting 
beaks, and discharging at intervals the contents of his crop into her mouth with spasmodic jerks, while she 
keeps up a continual or hissing noise." That this is an exceptional proof of marital fondness is shown by the 
observation of others, who say the male renders no assistance to his mate in the process of incubation, except 
to sit close to the hollow log and sing cheerfully ; he does not even seem to feed their young ones till they are 
old enough to fly about after him and cry for food. 
Before the invasion of the white man and his inevitable civilisation, the Psephotus hoematonotus lived 
principally upon grass seeds and insects ; now he exhibits a strong predilection for hay stacks. 
The length of the male is about ten inches ; the female not quite so much. 
Head, back of neck, throat, and upper part of breast, rich grass green, with blue reflections in certain 
lights, particularly on the head and face; back, brownish green, with a red patch on the rump; upper tail coverts 
and two centre tail feathers, green at the base, gradually passing into delicate greyish w'hite on the inner webs 
