SPINIFEX PARROT OR NIGHT PARROT. 
upon its death, writing : “I need only add two facts mentioned by Mr. 
Bartlett : one, that it shows a preference for green food ; the other, that its 
voice was a double note, harsh and loud.” This about completes the 
record of the habits of the species. In the same place Murie gave a detailed 
account of the anatomy of the species, but not of the skull, figuring 
the head, feet and sternum. 
All notes since that date simply deal with its extinction. Thus 
Heartland noted feathers in Central Australia and also in North-West 
Australia, but no specimens were secured. 
Campbell, in the Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds , Vol. II., p. 660, 1901, 
gives a circumstantial account of the habits of the bird by Mr. F. W. 
Andrews, read before the Royal Society of South Australia in 1893, which is 
here quoted without confirmation : “ During the day this bird lies concealed 
in the inside of a tussock or bunch of porcupine grass ( Triodia ), the inside 
being pulled out and a snug retreat formed for its protection. Here, also, 
its rough nest is formed, and four white eggs laid. When the dark shades 
of evening have fairly set in it comes out to feed, but generally flies direct to 
the nearest water, which is often a considerable distance from the nest ; in 
some instances I have known them fly a distance of four or five miles. 
After drinking and shaking themselves up a little, they fly off to feed on the 
seeds of the porcupine grass, returning to water two or three times during 
the night. The name given by the aborigines is ‘ Myrrlumbing,’ from the 
supposed resemblance of their whistling note to the sound of that word. 
They have also a very peculiar croaking note of alarm whilst at the water, 
which much resembles the loud croak of a frog. . . . These birds are (!) 
pretty generally distributed through the north and north-west of this 
colony : they come and go according to the nature of the season. When 
the early season is wet, the porcupine grass flourishes and bears large 
quantities of seed, on which the birds feed ; but if, on the contrary, the 
season is a dry one, the grass does not seed, and no birds are to be seen. I 
shot some specimens at Cooper’s Creek in 1875, when out as collecting 
naturalist for the late Mr. J. W. Lewis in his exploration of the country 
about Lake Eyre. They were in that district observed to conceal 
themselves during the day in thick patches of shrubby samphire on the 
salt flats bordering the creeks on Lake Eyre.” 
Campbell, in Emu, Vol. XIV., p. 167, 1915, drew attention to the 
extinction of the form, writing : “ My friend, Mr. Albert Walker, who resided 
at Innamincka, Cooper’s Creek, for over 25 years, has frequently seen the 
bird, but he states that of recent years, according to the testimony of both 
whites and blacks, the bird has entirely disappeared.” 
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