218 J. F. M. Floyd—The Orange-bellied Grass Parrot


It is unusual for Elegants or Bluewings to join forces with other

parties who may be feeding, in fact they rather tend to ignore them.


The Orange-belly is much more friendly and will join any party

that he sees perching or feeding and will enter into conversation wdth

all and sundry. He is a slow feeder and spends a long time over this

business, an hour and a half being nothing at all.


A very fast flyer and difficult to catch.


There is a certain burr which grows in profusion in his district;

it has a very bright dark green leaf and is covered with burrs which

break into hundreds of points and stick all over ones socks and clothes

when the burr is ripe.


At the time of the bird’s presence in Australia they are green and

he is exactly the colour of the leaf, so much so that it is impossible to

locate him when he has walked into a patch of this burr unless he

moves his head.


There is a difference between the cock and the hen which is more

noticeable at a distance than close up.


The hen is a trifle duller in plumage but not much and has a one-

colour frontal band of turquoise whereas the cock has a two colour

band—royal blue edged with turquoise. The hen’s body colour looks

the same as the cock’s would look with a little dust sprinkled on it.

The bottle green back is very distinctive and is much the colour of

the Turquoisine.


This green shades from the neck over the breast, slightly olive in

colour, tapering to lime green below the breast to the abdomen, where

between the thighs is a large orange patch which is some specimens

may be up to 1J inches in length.


The cock has a yellow tinge in the inside of the thighs which is

missing in the hen. The wings are edged with a rather wide band of

royal blue which merges into the green by mixing the colour with it.


Call much like the Elegant, but there is a difference which I cannot

convey. The young have a faint orange patch showing and faint frontal

band and the sex can be distinguished even two weeks from the nest.


By going farther afield I have proved my theories wrong by the

following facts :—


The birds migrate from Tasmania by June. They nest over in



