THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
where they are intercepted in scores by a fine-meshed net held up by 
two men standing just in front of the opening.” 
Captain S. A. White {Trans. Roy. Soc. South Austr., Vol. XXXVIII., 
1914, p. 427), on his trip into Central Australia, observed: “These beautiful 
little birds were congregated in large flocks of many hundreds, and when we 
were camped near water they came in to drink night and morning, wheeling 
round many times before they alighted on some dead shrub, which was at 
once changed into a brilliant mass of light green and yellow. From this 
perch they flew down to the water’s edge to drink. Two or three birds 
would lose their lives and become food for the hawks before they left 
the watering-place. We found these birds nesting in August at one place 
only.” 
This bird still appears to be plentiful in many parts, but in view of the 
case of the Passenger Pigeon of America it seems well to strike a warning 
note, and I see that in 1901, Campbell, in the Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds , 
p. 657, wrote : “ Where are the flocks of these lovely little Parrakeets that 
from the far interior used periodically to visit Victoria and other parts 
of Southern Australia when the grass seeds were ripening ? ” “ Because 
their primitive feeding grounds have been destroyed by the depasturing of 
other flocks (stock) ” is the significant reply of an old and experienced bird 
trapper. 
It would thus seem well to offer some protection to this little erratic 
migrant. 
In 1912 I separated the species into three subspecific forms, and these 
I admitted in 1913, but upon revising my material and noting the variation 
I think it best to ignore these at the present time. It seems certain that 
subspecies will later be recognised, but owing to the migratory habits of 
the bird it is difficult to limit the specimens. If definition could be ascer- 
tained, it would be interesting to trace the migration routes and determine 
whether these were fixed or the movements erratic. From Macgillivray’s 
observations it appears that the movements he recorded were north and 
south, and if these were confirmed it would necessitate the consideration of 
an Eastern and Western subspecies. Most of the other workers have also 
noted a north and south migration, so this would seem to be general, but 
many and accurate records need to be made. North notes it is never 
coastal in New South Wales, so that it does not erratically move east and 
west in that locality. This suggests that the movements are really fixed 
and are not periodic irruptions from the interior such as are known in 
connection with many other Australian birds. This would make this bird 
one of the most interesting of Australian aviforms, as few endemic Austral 
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