THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Under the name Barnardius z. zonarius , Captain S. A. White has written 
me : “ This bird is confined practically to Eyre’s Peninsula, although of late 
years there have been instances when this bird has almost reached Port Augusta. 
These birds nest in September and October, clutch four, laid upon the bare 
wood.” 
Mr. J. W. Mellor’s notes read: “ Commonly known as the Port Lincoln 
Parrot, as that is the place where they were very plentiful in the early days, but 
now they are not nearly so numerous, but are nevertheless found all over Eyre 
Peninsula. I have noted them in the Kippis Ranges : I also saw them 
sparsely in Oleve Ranges inland from Arno Bay, when after the Mallee Fowl 
for the Kangaroo Island Reserve. Their call is several sharp whistling notes, 
and also a note somewhat like that of the Rosella parrot : they are very pugilistic, 
and not more than one pair are able to breed in one place, as they start to fight 
directly one pair trespasses in the nesting-haunts of another pair : they go for 
one another with a will, chattering all the time with a harsh noise, fluttering 
their wings about and spreading their tails in their excitement and fury. I 
have found their nests in hollow spouts and limbs of the gums, the sugar gum 
with its gnarled and twisted limbs forming admirable hollows in which they 
lay four white eggs, starting to breed in October and going on for the next 
month or two. Its food consists of all kinds of grass seeds and seeds of various 
plants, while it is very fond of berries and fruits.” 
In the Emu , Vol. XIII., p. 23, 1913, Captain White wrote as follows : 
“We were much surprised to meet with these Parrots just after passing 
through Lincoln Gap (Gawler Ranges, South Australia), for we had no idea 
that this bird had worked so far north. Reliable old residents assured us 
that it was only within the last few years that these Parrots had been seen in 
the district ; yet it has come to my knowledge that Mr. J. W. Mellor procured 
this bird in the same year, and somewhere about the same time, at Port Germein, 
showing that the bird must have flown over the Gulf and is pushing northward. 
We found these birds rare amongst the ranges, but, when we entered the 
Mallee belt, which extends from the Western Australian border and ends 
abruptly at the south-western end of the ranges, the birds were seen assembled 
in numbers amidst the large mallee to nest. We were rather early, and just 
before we left this interesting piece of country they had started to clean out 
their nesting hollows, making a great fuss the while. The male would pose 
in all attitudes — hang head downwards, swing from under the limb (where 
his mate was busy scraping out decayed wood and bark), his tail oscillating 
energetically from side to side, and all the while making an outrageous chattering 
call. On 7th September we took a full clutch of four eggs from a very large 
mallee, about 2 ft. from the ground, eggs slightly incubated, and laid on 
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