386. Platycercus flaveolus, Gould
387. Platycercus palliceps, Vig.
388. Platycercus eximius .
389. Platycercus splendidus, Gould .
390. Platycercus ieterotis
391. Platycercus Quitus, Leadb.
392. Platycercus Brownii
393...Platycercus pileatus, Vig.
Vol. V. Pl. 25
Vol, V. Pl. 26.
Vol. V. Pl. 27.
Vol. V. Pl. 28.
Vol. V. Pl. 29.
Vol. V. Pl. 30.
Vol. V. Pl. 31.
Vol. V. Pl. 32.
Genus Psephotus, Gould.
Generic characters.
As in Euphema, but the cere, in which the nostrils are placed, more swollen or developed ; wings rather short
and the tail much lengthened ; the lateral feathers short and not so regularly graduated ; feet more adapted for
terrestrial progression.
All the members of this genus are confined to Australia, and hold an intermediate station between the
Platycerci on the one hand and the Euphenue on the other. They pass much of their time on the ground, where
the principal part of their food is procured ; inhabit the interior rather than the country near the coast, and are
adapted for the open plains, where they often assemble in vast flocks.
I have figured four species, and I have seen a drawing in the possession of Mr. Brown, made by Ferdinand
Bauer from a bird said to have been found near the Gulf of Carpentaria, which will probably form a fifth.
394. Psephotus hæmatogaster, Gould . . . . . . . . - • • Vol. V. PI. 33.
This species differs from all the other members of the genus, as well as from those of the allied genera, in the
pointed form of the tips of its primaries.
I f they be not local varieties of each other, there are two birds confounded under this name, one having yellow
and the other scarlet under tail-coverts ; it will be necessary, however, to see other examples before we can decide
whether they are or are not distinct. Captain Sturt brought specimens with yellow under tail-coverts from the
Dépôt in the interior of South Australia.
395. Psephotus pulcherrimus, G o u l d ................................................. • • • • VfikJV- PI. 34.
396. Psephotus multicolor - ............................................................................................................. | | | |
.397. Psephotus hæmatonotus, G o u l d ..................................................... ■ ' • ' ■ • Vol. V. PI. 36.
Genus E u p h e m a , Wagl.
The members of this genus are exclusively Australian and appear to be confined to the extra-tropical parts of
the country, no species having yet been seen from the north coast. Our knowledge of this group has been extended
from three to seven species, all of which are abundantly distributed over the southern portions of the continent,
and two of them over Van Diemen’s Land.
398. Euphema c h ry s o s tom a ....................................................................................................................Vol. V. PI. 37.
399. Euphema elegans, Gould....................................................................................................................Vol. V. PI. 38.
400. Euphema aurantia, Gould. . . . ................................................................................Vol. V. PI. 39,
401. Euphema petrophila, Gould . . • • ■ • • • • • • * Vol. V. PI. 40.
402. Euphema pulchella............................................................................................................................. Vol. V. PL- 41.
403. Euphema splendida, Gould Vol. V. PI. 42.
Captain Sturt procured a single male example of this beautiful bird during his journey into the interior of South
Australia.
404. Euphema Bourkii. . : . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. V. PI. 43.
Captain Sturt found this species in abundance at the Dépôt in Central Australia.
Genus M e l o p s it t a c u s , Gould.
Generic characters.
Bill moderate; cubnen arched; tomia descending at the base, then ascending and curving downwards to the tip;
nostrils basal, lateral, open, and seated in a broad swollen cere ; wings rather long, pointed, first primary very long,
the second the longest ; tail long and much graduated ; tarsi moderate and covered with minute scales ; toes slender,
the outer toe much longer than the inner one..
The only known species of this form is strictly gregarious, assembles in vast flocks, and is admirably adapted
for plains and downs covered with grasses, upon the seeds of which it entirely subsists.
405. Melopsittacus undulatus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. V. PI. 44.
In all probability this bird is universally dispersed over the whole of the interior of Australia, since independently
of its previously known range from Swan River on the west to New South Wales on the east, Mr. Gilbert
observed it in every part of the country between Moreton Bay and the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Genus N y m p h i c u s , Wagl.
As of Melopsittacus, there is only one species known of this genus. It is strictly Australian, and will doubtless
hereafter be found to be universally distributed over that vast country ; it is equally adapted for the plains, and the
two birds are frequently found associated.
406. Nymphicus Novæ-Hollandiæ........................................................................................................ Vol. y. pi. 45.
There are two distinct varieties of this species, one having a much darker colouring than the other.
Genus P e z o p o r u s , III.
Of this terrestrial form but one species is known, which is very generally distributed over the temperate
portions of Australia, the islands in Bass’s Straits and Van Diemen’s Land. The eggs are laid on the bare ground.
407. Pezoporus formosus.........................................................................................................................y 0l. y . pi. 46.
Genus L a t h a m u s , Less.
Of this form only a single species is known to exist in Australia, and that species had been assigned to a
different genus by almost every recent writer on ornithology, Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield placing it in their
genus Nanodes, Wagler in his genus Euphema, &c. ; subsequently M. Lesson made it the type of his genus Lathamus,
giving it at the same time the specific appellation of rubrifrons, which must of course give place to that of discolor,
long before applied to it by Latham,
Having had ample opportunities of observing this bird in a state of nature, I concur in the propriety of M,
Lesson’s views in separating it into a distinct genus, at the same time I must remark that in its habits, nidification,
food and whole economy, it is most closely allied to the Trichoglossi or honey-eating Parrakeets, and in no degree
related to the Euphema.
408. Lathamus discolor Vol. V. PI. 47.