THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Platycercus venustus venustus Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 272, 1912 ; id., 
List Birds Austr., p. 132, 1913. 
Platycercus venustus melvillensis Mathews, Austral Avian Record, Vol. I., p. 36, Apl. 
1912 : Melville Island, Northern Territory ; Zietz., South Austr. Ornith., Vol. 
I. p. 14, 1914. 
Distribution. Northern Territory ; North-west Australia. 
Adult male. General colour above black including the head, sides of the face, sides of 
the neck, upper back, scapulars, inner upper wing-coverts, and innermost secondaries, 
with whitish margins to the scapulars, greater upper w'ing-co verts, and innermost 
secondaries and bluish tips to the feathers of the upper back ; lesser marginal 
upper wing-coverts blue becoming paler blue on the median series ; bastard-wing, 
primary-coverts, and outer webs of the primary and secondary quills purplish- 
blue, the inner Avebs dark brown ; lower back and upper tail-coverts straw-yellow 
with dark narrow edgings to the feathers and dusky bases to the former and black 
bases to the latter ; basal portion of the tail and middle feathers dark blue, the 
outer feathers broadly tipped with very pale blue and dark brown on the inner 
webs towards the base ; fore part of cheeks white ; hinder cheeks and throat pale 
blue with dark sagitate markings to the feathers ; fore-neck and sides of the neck 
black with a very pale blue bar to the feathers — the .bar becoming whitish and 
increasing in extent on the breast and abdomen, the dark bases becoming much paler 
on the latter where the feathers are straw-yellow with dark narrow edges like 
the flanks ; under tail-coverts bright red ; under wing-coverts blue, the greater 
series and under surface of quills dark brown with glossy reflections ; lower aspect 
of tail dark brown on the middle portion and pale iridescent blue on the outer 
feathers. Bill, pale bluish grey, with middle line of lower mandible leaden blue ; 
eyes horny ; feet leaden black. Total length 320 mm. ; culmen 17, wing 152, tail 150, 
tarsus 18. Figured. Collected on Melville Island, Northern Territory, on the 
30th October, 1911. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
Adult male. General colour above black, the feathers margined with straw-yellow 
narrowly on the hind-neck and sides of neck and broadly on the scapulars, lower 
back, and upper tail-coverts becoming narrower again on the innermost secondaries 
where they are more or less tinged with blue like the outer greater coverts ; lesser 
marginal upper wing-coverts blue becoming paler on the outer median coverts ; 
bastard-wing, primary-coverts and outer webs of the primary and secondary 
quills dark blue, the inner webs dark brown becoming paler on the apical portion 
of the primaries and greyish on the outer webs ; middle tail-feathers blue as is 
also the basal portion of the outer ones, the latter being very pale blue on the 
apical portion and dark brown on the inner webs ; a whitish space across the 
upper cheeks ; lower cheeks and throat blue, the feathers of the latter having 
dusky bases ; breast, abdomen, and sides of the body pale lemon-yellow with dark 
narrow edges to the feathers which are more or less tinged with blue ; under tail- 
coverts scarlet-red ; axillaries and under wing-coverts dark blue, the greater series 
of the latter and under surface of the quills brown with glossy reflections ; lower 
aspect of tail dark brown on the middle portion and pale iridescent blue on the 
outer feathers. Bill, whitish-grey ; eyes umber ; feet dark grey. Figured. Collected 
at Napier Broome Bay, North-west Australia, on the 23rd of February, 1910. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
Nest. A hole in a tree. 
Eggs. Clutch, 2 to 3. White. 25-26 mm. by 20-21. 
Breeding-season. August to October. 
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