CRIMSON PARROT. 
first caused me considerable perplexity from its close similarity in some stages 
of its plumage to the P. pennantii ; as in that species, the plumage of the 
young for the first season is wholly green. ... It was only by killing 
numerous examples in all their various stages of plumage, from the nestling 
to the adult, that I was enabled to determine the fact of its being a distinct 
species. When I visited the interior of South Australia, in the winter of 1838, 
I found the adults associated in small groups of from six to twenty in number ; 
while near the coast, between Holdfast Bay and the Port of Adelaide, the 
young in the green dress were assembled in flocks of hundreds ; they were 
generally on the ground in search of grass-seeds, and when so occupied would 
admit of a near approach ; when flushed they merely flew up to the branches 
the nearest tree.” 
Mr. Edwin Ashby has sent me the following note : “ This species is very 
numerous in the higher ranges of the Adelaide Hills, where it nests in hollows 
in large Red and Blue Gums. In our Blackwood district it is only numerous 
at times. Especially so when the young birds are fledged, it appears that they 
only come to the lower ranges after the incubation period is over. I believe 
this species merges into the next, P. flaveolus Gld. In the neighbourhood of 
Schuetze’s Landing I have shot specimens of that species as highly coloured as a 
fairly bright P. adelctidce. The residents there say both species are represented, 
calling the pale forms one species and the highly coloured ones the other.” 
Captain S. A. White wrote me : “ These lovely parrots were once 
exceedingly numerous in the Mount Lofty Ranges but their ranks have been 
much thinned by poison and gun : this is due to the bird being very destructive 
in the orchards : they are still to be found in numbers in the ranges and many 
thousands are killed each year. Although these birds are so numerous their 
nests are seldom seen : they always select an almost inaccessible site in some 
big gum trees : the usual clutch is four eggs laid on the bare wood : 
the young are very green hardly showing any red for the first year, and it 
takes several years for the male birds to obtain the very red coloration. 
Their food consists of seeds of many grasses and rushes, berries, gum seeds 
and fruits of all kinds : they are also very partial to almonds. Their call is 
a very shrill screech or a chattering noise when feeding. They were once 
regular visitors to the Adelaide plains in the autumn, but they are now seldom 
seen. The variety we met with in the Flinders Ranges seems a much paler 
bird. We found them in small parties in the ranges near Port Augusta : 
their habits seemed the same as those found in the Mount Lofty Ranges. 
See Emu, Vol. XII., p. 128.” 
From the Austr. Mus. Spec. Cat., No. 1, Vol. III., I extract the following 
items — “ Dr. W. A. Angove notes : ‘ Platycercus adelaidce is common through 
311 
