THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
of the Peppermint Gums, which were in flower. I secured two pair for the 
South Australian Museum and a pair for myself, and my son got another 
pair. When getting these I saw fully fifty birds within a quarter of a mile of 
my house. The crops and stomachs examined showed that, while all had been 
feeding on honey, insects and seeds formed a considerable portion of their 
diet. While at times they uttered a somewhat pleasing warbling note, the 
common call was a whistle, closely resembling the cry of the common Tree- 
Creeper ( Glimacteris scandens), for which it might be easily mistaken. The 
following are the measurements I took : Total length, 10*6 inches, 9 10'2 
inches ; wing, <£ and 9 5 inches ; tail, <J and 9 5 inches ; culmen, <£ ’6, 9 *5 inch ; 
tarsus, d and 9 *7 inch. I should add that during the time L. discolor was 
here in 1914, I made one or two trips into the higher part of the ranges, but 
saw no sign of it. I think they only frequented the belt in which the pepper- 
mint gums grow, the greatest altitude about 800-900 feet above sea level. 
No one else save myself and son collected any skins, and I do not think there 
were any reliable identifications outside of, say, a mile radius of my house. I 
asked a number of persons to look out for the bird with a view of getting some 
knowledge of the extent of the migration. Although so little data has been 
obtained, I think probably they did occur throughout the whole of the 
foot-hills of the Adelaide and Mt. Lofty Range wherever the peppermints 
occur.” 
I have just received a letter from Mr. E. Ashby, dated July 1st, 1917, 
noting : “You will be glad to know that the Swift Parrot has again appeared 
at Blackwood : my son saw them first on the 8th of June and on several 
subsequent days. I myself had a good view of one flying over my garden on 
the 20th of June.” 
Mr. J. W. Mellor has written me : “ This prettily colored parrot I have 
seen in various places in Tasmania, which seems to be its real home. During 
a visit to Hobart in November 1906, I found these parrots on the slopes of 
Mt. Wellington and secured several specimens for my collection. They were 
feeding on the ground amongst the grass, apparently eating the seeds of the 
wild grasses in the timbered country. Also while I was journeying in the 
northern part of Tasmania in the succeeding month I saw quite a number 
in the trees on the slopes of the Tiers, going up to the Great Lake : they were 
then in the large gum-trees which were flowering, but I could not be certain 
if they were eating honey from the flowers, but probably they were. I did 
not molest them as I had already procured several. I have never seen them 
in South Australia and doubt if they are to be found here now, although they 
were here in the early days as Mr. William White shot specimens at the 
Reedbeds, which I have seen.” 
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