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PLATYCERCUS ADELAIDIiE, Gauid.
/Adelaide Parrakeet.
Platycercus Adelaidice, G o u ld in Èro c. Zoo llg o c -^P a rt. V I I I . p. 163.
Pheasant Parro t, Colo n ists o f S o u th A ustralia.!
T his, beautiful Platycercus is a native of S o u th ,A u ^ jia , and from the circumstance of my having procured
some of my fiijpp §pj.c|m^ns in the very sjrepts’of that embryo city, I have been induced to give it the
specific name of Adelaidice, In all; prqbabiHtyjE^ bird may in a few years; looked for in vain in the
suburbs of thisj^apidly increasing settlement,p ^ ^ is too large a species and possesses too many attractions
to remain unmolested; indeed itis 4^eu, persecuted a n d ^ |® P |e^ § ^ ffle newly-arrived emigrants,
who Jalf ^ f ^ ^ ^ g ^ ^ e r e sport ordppfthe table; for, like tlfe p,tèer BJdtycei'ti, all of which feed on grass-
seeds, it i^ excellent eating.
The- Platycercus Adelaidice at first ,QauSpd| me considerable perplexity from its close similarity in some
stages of its plumage to the P. Pennantii; as in that species the plumage of the young fo rth e first season is
wholly green, which colouring gradually gives place tp red on the head, rump, and upper surfSpe, the sca-
pularies and, back feathers' b e in ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ e dw ith the same hue, a character of plumage which soon disappears
Jónd: giilb^ l a c e , to^dull yellow on^jhc flanks and olive-yellow on the upper surface, the scapularies and
back feathers imAhe mature dress being edged with yellowish buff and violet. I t was only by killing at
least a h undred examples in all their various stages of plumage, from the nestling to the adult, that I
was enabled^tp determine the fact of its being a new anc| ^ ^ i^É ^p ecie s. In all its dimensions it is less
than the Pennantian.
I %nd> Jhd present species plentiful on the banks ^pffthehyiyer Torrens, throughout its whole course,
as well asftpver all the low grassy hills between- that It was in winter that I visited
this portion of Australia, ^when I Ifound the adults associated in small groups of from six to twenty in
number. While near thé coast between Holdfast Bay and the. Port pf Adelaide, the young in the green
dress were assembled in "flocks of hundreds; they were generally pn tbIe%rpuUd jp. search of grass-seeds,
and when so occupied would admit of a near approach: when flushed they merely flew up to the branches
of the nearest treeït f t ; is impossible to conceive anything more .than the rising of a flock of
adults, spreading out their beautiful broad blue tails and wings, which glittering in the sun presented a
really magnificent spectacle.
The note is a loud, piping whistle.
The fully adult male has the crown of the head, lores, sides of the neck, breast and centre of the abdomen
scarlet, passing into dull yellow on the flanks; cheeks and wing-coverts lig \t la p i f e b lu e ; primaries deep
blue, passing into b l a c k ith e extremity; back of the ncc^dull yellow; back black,,each feather margined
with yellowish buff, some of the marginations tinged with blue,;Others with scarlet; rump and upper tail-
coverts dull gTeenish yellow, the latter sometimes tinged with scarlet; twocentre tail-feathers greenish blue;
the remain Her deep blue at the base, gradually becoming lighter until almost white at the, tip ; irides brown;
bill horn-colour; feet greyish brown.
The figures are those of an adult alid an immature b ^® rg p n r s c ,o f change,fronaVtiie green plumage to
that adult dress of the natural size.