BLACK-TAILED PARROT OR ROCK PEBBLER. 
feathers more or less orange colour at the base and the inner webs of the outer 
pair narrowly edged with red ; greater under wing-coverts, quills below, and 
under surface of tail glistening dark brown slightly darker on the latter with 
pale tips to the lateral tail feathers. Bill red ; eyes hazel ; feet olive. Total 
length 430 mm. ; culmen 18, wing 198, tail 230, tarsus 20. Figured. Collected 
at Mildura, Victoria. 
Adult female. General colour above and below dull olive green, paler and more yellowish- 
green on the lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts as well as the abdomen 
and under wing-coverts ; inner median upper wing-coverts bright greenish-yellow 
like the tips of the greater coverts, outer webs of the latter red, the innermost 
secondaries similar but not so bright ; outer upper wing-coverts dusky brown 
with olive-green edges becoming bluish-black on the greater series ; bastard-wing and 
primary-coverts bluish-black like the outer webs of the primary and secondary 
quills, those of the outer primaries having pale yellowish edges, the latter bemg 
dark brown on the inner webs ; tail for the most part bronze-green with dark 
brown inner webs to the outer feathers, which are broadly margined with rose- 
pink, becoming very pale at the tips ; greater under wing-coverts glossy greyish- 
brown like the lower aspect of the quills ; tail below glossy black with rose-pink 
margins on the inner webs and pale tips to the lateral feathers. Figured. Col- 
lected at Broome Hill, South-west Australia, on the 23rd January, 1912. 
Immature. Resemble the females. 
Nest. A hole in a tree. 
Eggs. Clutch, four to six. White. 27 to 32 mm. by 23 to 25. 
Breeding-season. September to December. 
This fine species has even a later history than the preceding, though 
enjoying a more extensive range. It was not until ten years after the 
description of the former that this bird was painted by Lear and named. 
Further the female or young was simultaneously painted and given a different 
name as it was supposed to be a distinct species. This error was, however, 
immediately recognised and the name given to the male accepted, but the 
female or young had been first named and this name must be used. 
Again its restricted habit makes its life history scanty, as though its range 
is wider than that of its close ally, it is more confined to the interior. 
Thus Gould’s notes read : 4 4 It is strictly an inhabitant of the interior, over 
which it doubtless enjoys a wide range. Sir George Grey procured it in the 
dense scrub to the North-west of Adelaide, and Gilbert encountered it in the 
white gum forests of the Swan River settlement. Gilbert remarks : 44 It is 
met with in small families of from nine to twelve in number, feeding on seeds, 
buds of flowers, and honey gathered from the white gum-tree. Its flight, as 
indicated by its form, is rapid in the extreme.” Sturt’s note reads : 44 1 
believe I have already mentioned that, shortly after we first entered the Murray, 
flocks of a new Paroquet passed over our heads, apparently emigrating to the 
North-west. They always kept too high to be fired at, but on our return, 
hereabouts, we succeeded in killing one. It made a good addition to our 
scant stock of objects of natural history.” 
