THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Nest. A hole in a tree. 
Eggs. Clutch four or five. White. 29-30 mm. by 23-25. 
Breeding season. November and December. 
When Salvador! wrote up the Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum, 
\ ol. XX., p. 545, 1891, he used for this species the name Platycercus flaviventris 
as of Temminck, 1821. He gave a note reading : “ The following quotations 
probably also refer to the present species : — 
“ ? New Caledonian Parrot, Lath. Gen. Syn. I., p. 248, n. 49 (1781). 
Psittacus caledonicus Gm. S. N. I., p. 328, n. 82 (1788).” 
Latham’s description of the Caledonian Parrot reads : “ Length twelve 
inches. Bill bluish ; tip pale ; the feathers round the upper mandible 
crimson ; those round the lower and the chin blue ; crown greenish yellow ; 
the plumage on the upper parts of the body olive green ; beneath olive yellow ; 
outer edge of the tail pale blue ; tail cuneiform ; the two middle feathers 
six inches long ; the outer one three only, colour olive green ; the outer edges 
of the four outer ones pale blue ; ends of all whitish ; legs dusky blue. 
“ Inhabits New Caledonia. There is a specimen of this likewise at 
Sir J oseph Banks. I have some suspicion of its proving the female of the last 
mentioned ; the bill, legs, wings and tail, do very much correspond.” 
The locality given is erroneous as the description absolutely applies to the 
Tasmanian bird, and I find preserved at the British Museum a painting by 
Ellis of a specimen killed at Adventure Bay, Tasmania, probably made from 
the bird above referred to as being in the possession of Sir J oseph Banks. 
Though this identity was not at once accepted, it appears to have been 
known to Latham’s contemporaries, as in the English edition of the “ Search 
for La Perouse,” p. 176, I find the following entry : “ April, 1792. Port 
D’Entrecasteaux, Tasmania. During this excursion I killed several birds of 
the genus motacilla , and some parrots, amongst which was the parrot of New 
Caledonia, described by Latham.” 
Moreover, Wagler, whose monograph is excellent for the period, used the 
name caledonicus sinking brownii Kuhl and flavig aster Temminck as synonyms. 
This identity is also suggested in Caley’s note, published by Vigors and 
Horsfield, who did not make any connnent on it: “ This bird, ‘ Mr. Caley tells 
us,’ was common at the settlement near Hobart Town in V an Diemen’s Land. 
It is also met with, as I understand, in New Caledonia. I know nothing of its 
habits.” 
Notwithstanding this, the name was neglected in favour of Temminck’ s 
flaviventris, this name being continually used though it had no real claim as 
Kuhl had named the species brownii a year before Temminck proposed his 
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