THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
and throat blue ; a tinge of orange on the fore-neck ; under wing-coverts rather 
pale blue, the larger series and quills below pale brown ; lower aspect of tail 
pale brown, the outer feathers broadly tipped with pale iridescent blue, Bill 
bluish at the base, horn colour at the tips ; eyes brown ; feet blackish-grey. 
Total length 330 mm. ; culmen 18, wing 165, tail 163, tarsus 17. Figured. 
Collected at Mannum, South Australia, on the 17th of December, 1897, and is 
my type of Platycercus flaveolus innominatus. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
Immature. General colour above yellowish bronze green, including the head, hind-neck, 
sides of neck, entire-back, upper tail-coverts, scapulars, and innermost secondaries ; 
lesser upper wing-coverts dark blue, outer median and greater coverts pale blue ; 
the inner portions of these coverts are like the back, bastard-wing, primary-coverts, 
primary and secondary quills, dark brown with dark blue on the outer webs, which 
is restricted to the basal portion of the outer primaries, a white spot on the inner 
webs of the quills which commences on the second primary enlarging in extent 
towards the inner ones, decreasing again and become obsolete on the innermost 
secondaries ; middle tail-feathers for the most part blue tipped with white, 
inner webs brown with a tinge of green near the shafts, the outer feathers dark 
brown on the basal portion of the inner webs dark blue on the outer ones, becoming 
very pale blue on both webs towards the tips, which are white ; base of forehead 
orange-red, crown yellow with dark narrow edgings to the feathers ; the feathers 
below the eye tinged with orange-red ; cheeks and throat blue ; entire under- 
surface pale lemon-yellow, with dark shaft-lines to the under tail-coverts, 
inclining to green on the lower breast and sides of the body ; under wing-coverts 
blue, the greater series dark brown mottled with white, quill lining also dark 
brown with an irregular oblique white line ; lower aspect of tail dark brown 
broadly tipped with pale iridescent blue, all the feathers tipped with white. 
Collected at Picola, Victoria, on the 26th of December, 1908. 
Nest. A hole in a tree. 
Eggs. Clutch four or five. White. 27-28 mm. by 22-23. 
Breeding-season. September to December or January. 
It has been customary to associate with this species the name of Gould as 
having first recognised it. His remarks read : “I have no other information 
to communicate respecting this beautiful Platycercus than that it is an 
inhabitant of New South Wales, and is abundant on the banks of the rivers 
Lachlan and Darling. It was first sent to this country by Captain Sturt. I 
also saw in the Museum at Sydney several specimens which had been collected 
by Sir Thomas Mitchell during his expeditions to the interior. In all these 
specimens little or no variation in their plumage was observable — a circum- 
stance which induces me to suspect, that, like the Rose-hill Parrakeet, the 
young are clothed in a similar character of plumage to that of the adults, or 
if not, that they gain the full colouring at a very early age ; the sexes offer 
no external differences.” 
Neither Gould nor Captain Sturt were the first to discriminate this species, 
as in the Gen. Hist. Birds , Vol. II., 1822, Latham correctly described it on 
p. 133 as follows : 
318 
