THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Distribution. Victoria ; South Australia ; South-west Australia. 
Adult wale. General colour of the upper-surface green ; occiput, hind-neck and sides of 
neck yellowish-green, mantle dull yellowish-green ; upper wing-coverts somewhat 
darke than the back, those around the bend of the wing, both above and below, 
blue ; inner webs of the bastard wing, primary-coverts, primary- and secondary- 
quills dark brown, the last two very narrowly edged with yellow on both webs ; 
rump and upper tail coverts emerald-green ; outer tail-feathers orange at the base 
and yellow at the tips on the inner webs ; crown of head purplish blue ; fore-head 
orange , becoming red on the lores and above and in front of the eye ; above 
and below the eye pale green ; ear-coverts pale orange ; throat, breast, and 
abdomen pale cob alt -blue ; sides of the body and under tail-coverts yellowish- 
green with a patch of orange on the former ; axillaries and inner under wing-coverts 
red, the median series of the latter inclining to cobalt-blue, and the greater series 
pale brown like the quill-lining ; under -surface of tail orange at the base and yellow 
at the tip ; bill black ; eyes hazel-brown ; feet iron-grey. Total length 185 mm. ; 
culmen 12, wing 110, tail 65, tarsus 12. Figured. Collected at Wilson’s Inlet, 
South-west Australia, on the 8th of April, 1910. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
Nest. A hollow in a tree. 
Eggs. Clutch, four; white. 20-22 mm. by 17-18. 
Breeding-season. September to November ; but varies in different parts. 
There is no ancient history to this species, as it was only named by Dietrichsen 
in 1832, but the name chosen by him on that occasion ( Psittacus purpurea) 
being invalid, it was altered at once to the name it bears at present ; it should 
be noted that though remedied “at once,” the new name was not published 
until five years after. About the latter date another name was given in the 
continuation of Le Vaillant’s Perroquets, but the author was not a systematic 
binomialist. 
Gould’s notes were made soon afterwards and constitute the first con- 
tribution to its life history as follows : “ This handsome little bird is abundant 
in South Australia, is equally numerous at Swan River, and in all probability 
is dispersed over the whole of the intermediate country. It is the only true 
honey-feeding Lorikeet I have seen from Western Australia — a circumstance 
which cannot be accounted for, since the face of the country is covered with 
trees of a character so conducive to the well-being of the other members of 
the group. Most of the specimens I collected were shot during the months 
of June and July in the neighbourhood of Adelaide, and some of them in the 
town itself. It appears to arrive in this district at the flowering season of the 
Eucalypti , in company with Trichoglossus multicolor, Glossopsitta australis and 
G. pusilla , all of which may frequently be seen on the same tree at one time. 
As this tribe of birds depends solely for its subsistence upon the flowers of the 
gum trees, their presence in any locality would be vainly sought for at any 
season when those trees are not in blossom.” 
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