July. The Queensland Xatlralist. 
19 
erxihropterus, is common here, and what a glorious bird it is ! 
See the sun light up the crimson on its wings, and vou get 
some notion of a lining flash of beautv. See a mob of these 
parrots wheel and flash in the sunlight, and vou have seen 
a vision of colour that should remain in vour memorv. 
In our hospital grounds some huge Agaves flowered- 
and the Blue Mountain parrots took charge of them, screeching, 
bubbling, fighting — a score at a time. Parrots are great 
honev eaters. I don't care for the wav nature has blended 
her colours in the Blue Mountain, but she has made amends 
in the genus Pl^tycercus. where the Rosellas come in. Other 
parrots here are the scaly-breasted Lorikeet, the musk and 
the little Lorikeet. I have onlv seen the white Cockatoo, 
with his ear-splitting screech. 
Of Picarian birds about Gayndah. we can n >te several 
of great beautv as well as interest. The King-fishers and 
King-hunters, from Halcyon gigas to Alcxone azurea. We 
liave also the Sacred and Macleav’s king-fishers. The last- 
named has a call note of 3 or 4 P’s — P.P.P.P. He and she 
drill a hole in a white ants' nest on the ground or in a tree, 
and nest there. Then we have the Dollar Bird, a migrant 
who comes in September from the North. He lives in the 
blue gums, sits well out on dead limbs, and has a lunatic 
cackle of a call-note that once heard is never lost. He's 
a handsc*me chap, and very strong and vigorous. He shows 
a white dollar on his blue wing as he flies, and his tumbling 
in the air has given him the name of Roller. The Bee-eater, 
Merops ornatns, is one of our commonest as well as a bird 
of great beauty. He and she drill an oblique tunnel in the 
ground or bank, and lay white eggs, as bv the wav do all 
birds who tunnel. No necessit\- for protective colouration 
is the up-to-date idea. Look at the exquisite and delicate 
tints of their plumage. See the long curved bill. Note the 
two elongated tail feathers, and above all note their floating 
in the air. and the curious high-pitched tremolo of the call 
note. This call note is so distinctive that though vou cannot 
see yet you can swear to the bird. Thev frequent the river 
banks, dash into the water on the wing, and add a life and a 
vivid joy to bird life that I trust will never pass from Australia 
The Frogmouth and Nightjar, and spine-tailed Swift all 
come in this order, but I have not met with them here, though 
I feel sure of their presence. 
Our next birds are the Coccyges — the Cuckor s. This is 
a favourite home of the huge Channel Bill and the Cooee 
Bird. I have seen also the common bronze Cuckoo. The 
Channel Bill and Cooee birds are migrants, the latter from 
Asia. He is coal black ; she spotted black and white. From 
this bird the Australian aboriginal must have got his cooee. 
