BEAUTIFUL PARROT. 
Gould wrote : “ The graceful form of this Parrakeet, combined with the 
extreme brilliancy of its plumage, renders it one of the most lovely of the 
Psittacidce yet discovered ; and in whatever light we regard it, whether as a 
beautiful ornament to our cabinets or a desirable addition to our aviaries, 
it is still an object of no ordinary interest. Little more is at present known 
respecting this bird than that it is an inhabitant of the upland grassy plains of 
Queensland. Specimens were procured by Gilbert on the Darling Downs, where 
it was observed in small families feeding on the seeds of grasses and other plants 
growing on the plains ; the stomachs of those examined were fully distended 
with grass seeds exclusively.” 
In the Austr. Mus. Spec. Cat., No. 1, Vol. III., p. 145, 1911, appears a note 
by H. G. Barnard of Bimbi, Duaringa, Queensland : “ It is many years since I 
have seen Psephotus pulcherrimus. These birds were never plentiful in this 
part, only an odd one or two being procured, but in 1882 my brother Charles and 
I visited Fairfield Station, one hundred miles south of this, where we found the 
birds numerous, and here for the first time discovered their breeding habits. 
The bird drills a hole, resembling that of a Pardalote, in the large round Termite 
mounds on the ground, but though the entrance is small the egg cavity is large, 
as much as a foot in diameter. The eggs are deposited on the soft earth, from 
three to five forming a sitting. It is so long since I have seen Psephotus 
pulcherrimus I could not describe the female, which is quite unlike the male, 
being mostly of a brown colour.” 
Campbell, in the Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, Vol. II., p. 646, pi. opp., 1901, 
showed the nest of the Beautiful Parrakeet in an ant hillock, writing : “ The 
eggs, and the first information of the interesting fact that the birds lay in ant 
hillocks, I received from the late Mr. George Barnard, Coomooboolaroo (Queens- 
land), where the birds breed. Unfortunately, during my visit to that part of 
the country a drought existed, and consequently the birds were not laying. 
However, on a trip subsequently Mr. D. Le Souef was more successful, and 
was enabled to bring away an excellent photograph of an ant hill, also one 
showing the position of the eggs in the mound. Dr. Carl Lumholtz observed 
that the nests were several miles apart, and that those examined in September 
contained eggs partly incubated. He proceeds to state : 4 There is an irregular 
entrance, about two inches in diameter and about a foot above the ground. 
In the interior the Parrot makes an opening about a foot high and two or 
three feet in diameter. None of the building material is carried away, but all 
the cells and canals are trampled down, so that there remains simply a wail, 
one or two inches thick, around the whole nest. Here the female lays five 
white eggs. ’ ” 
On account of the position of the nest D. Le Souef recorded {Emu, Vol. II,, 
423 
