280 Sydney Porter—Notes on the Cyanorhamphus Parrakeets


numerous. These islands are very small, and although they were covered

with the densest vegetation it was amazing that they supported such

a large Parrot population. Most of the islands were almost inaccessible

except the one where the Parrakeets were so plentiful, and access to

this was only gained through climbing up a precipitous and partly

dried-up waterfall. During the rainy season it would be quite impossible

to gain access to this island at all. It is doubtless the inaccessibility of

these islands which has saved the Parrakeets.


The season had been very dry and there were only one or two small

pools on rocky ledges, and these formed the sole drinking places for the

birds on the island. All manner of native birds were perfectly tame ;

the Parrakeets came round and settled within a foot or two of one ; in

fact, they seemed to ignore the presence of human beings, treating us

as though we were non-existent. I have seen few birds as tame

in a wild state as the Parrakeets on this island. A professional bird-

catcher could have caught hundreds in a morning. I spent two days

and one night there, sleeping under the shelter of a huge “ flax ” plant

on the beach so that I could observe the habits of the birds at their

drinking places early in the morning. In this I was disappointed, for

I found that the best time for seeing the Parrakeets was in the heat of

the day, when there was a constant stream of them coming to drink

and bathe. It was on this island that I heard for the first time the very

distinctive goat-like bleat of these birds which caused the Germans to

call this species “ Ziegensittich ”. At first I though there must be

numerous kids in the “ bush 55 as there are on many of the small islands

off the coast, but I soon found out the noise was made by the

Parrakeets.


On the first three of the chain of islands which we visited the “ flax ”

plants were entirely stripped of their seeds, and on these islands the

Parrakeets were not nearly as plentiful as on the last island, where

there was still a large quantity of seed, so it is obvious that the birds

pass from one island to another as the supply of seed runs short. There

must be a considerable shortage of seed in the winter time, for I cannot

think what the birds would eat except the hard seeds of a pampas-like

grass called in the vernacular “ toi-toi


I spent a good many hours watching the Parrakeets at their drinking





