PLATYCERCÜS FLAYIVENTRIS.
Yellow-bellied Parrakeet.
Psittacus jlaviventris, Temm. in Lin n . T ra n s ., vo l,.v.iijf'p p n s - 1 1 8 .
-^7— — A c ta , qg§5 ^iLt$£p. 56. n o . j® ' | .
Perruche à large queue, Le Vaill. H is t, J J a t; l ë ÿ P ctt.3 | p | | l i p r ;
Van Diemen’s Parrot Ï, Lath.. Gen. Hist., v#L ii. p. 130. n o . 33.
Ptdlycemis jlaviventris \ igTymAfta sf in Linn Tran i , vol xv.p. 281.—Gould in Syn. Birds of Australia, Part II.
Sulphur-headed Parro t ? . Làtt^G e ^Hist.vol. iikpt f 33? ~noiJ<05?c'-
New Caledonian Pa r ro t ?, Lath. Ib„ vol. ii. 8,6\
Psitia^:0a^$0ivus?,, 328.
Caledonian Parrot ?, Lath. É f e m p. 248.
Green Pa rro t, C o lo n ists o fM ^M ^ ie ih e n ’s Lan d .
There appears’to Haro min Ii i .imIumuii ri -ji* i Nm» tins bird tin t I have thought it best to adopt M. Tem-
minck’s although Ihave little ^ S f j h a t the Psittacus Caledonian of Latham, as well as
most of the other^.sfnohyms^^^ahove. refer to tliesame bird.
^ ^ ^ ^ # s p , e r s e d oyçr ^ ^ ^ J o f ^ i i ^ D i e n i e n ’s Land1 a tf l^& isi^ n d s^ Bass’s Straits ; bat" is not eon-
~ fined to particular localities like tn^Blfitycercus eoeimius, with which it sometimes associates. It keeps in
sm a llj% q m j^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ appear s i n g ^ ^ f e ^ d frequents every variety of situation,
Kills and %ulleys^®he depths i t ’ttf tfo rc é to tW ^ n ^ ^ r e d lauds and gardens
of the settlers. It runs over the 'ground with great 'facility, and when observed in small flocks searching
fo r seeds among the tall grass of th e ;o |^ p a r ts 3 few birds are seen to greater advantage.
„ Independently of grass-seeds, th g d o ^ e rs^ ^M e Eucalypti, ^ S l - i i § i l # i h r v £ e a considerably
portion of the food of this bird, and jgjBay be often seen very busily engaged about the branches
loaded with flowers in the de^tbsidMh^focesm a ^ ^ ^ y from anÿbîéarégflands.
Its powers of flight are very considerable, and „it readily passes from on§ district to another whenever a
scarcity of food or any other cauMîÿompts, it passage being performed in a succession of
wide undulating sweeps ; hence it not unfrequently happens that largé flights leave the forest with a shrill
whistling call, and descendpto the newly niiëfl»™B[Bof the settlers. k n j l l r ^ commit such serious havoc
aMo call down theMéng^fcc^of^t]^^ ^ ^ ë ^ l l^;#hol^race.
Most ©f "my readers are^doubtless aware that Parrots are frequently .eaten by man, but few of them are,
perhaps, prepared to hear that many spCgjjLs; of ftthe family constitute at certain seasons a staple portion of
l\fhe, ^ d |^ ; ÿ j |e settlers ^cmA^after^the^ésfaplilihinenfr ^ ^ n e colonies of Van Diemen’s Land, pies made of
the bird here. represented|y%re eaten at every'table,;Éia even at the present time are not of
unfrequent occu^rèuGe^ -It wa^n<f|g|ng afte^m^âgEipMn-the country before I tested Shi"goodness of
the flesh 'o f th^mÉd^sla^vland. and Lfounq^ps^-y^c^l^trjliât'I partook of it whenever an opportunity
for my m p jbjng- presented tt§jlj§ It ^ id élg n t^É n d er, well-flavoured I that of all other
birds, is ijo.fc |p good a t some seasons as j|| others, and veryroldbirds are of coursé 'not. equal to those of
one year-old: If we fake into Gonsideration tlie kind pptood upon which it subsists, the extreme delicacy
^Ipo^fineness of its'skinjand-its- eomparatively inactive mode bf^life, we might naturally conclude that its
flesh would be such as I have described it to be ; andal though this observation applies more/or less to all
the species of the genera Platycercus and Eupkema, I consider the present bird?tp be in this respect preeminent.
Like other species of the genus, it bears, confinement well ; and although it is not^so frequently met with
i i lH i cage or the aviary as some o£d|s more gailyattired brethren, it must not b^attf^tuted.to any inapîti-
tude for domest|cation on the part of tKpJmyL
The sexes during the first year are not to be distinguished from each other, but when fully adult, the
female is smaller in size snfifleSs brilliantly coloured than her mate.
Holes in the large gum-trees afford a natural breeding-place. The eggs, which are laid in September
and the three following mouths^„are-pure white, and six or eight in number, one inch and two lines long by
eleven and a half lines broad. When the young are first fetched tfey are covered with long, white down,
and, present an appearance n o t a r y dissimilar to abound ball of cotton-wool.
I found this species very abundant on the banks of the 'Tamar, and in. one- instance I saw hundreds
congregated* at a barn-door among the straw of some recently-thrashed' corn, precisely afteh the manner
of the Sparrow and^pigeop^m England.
Forehead crimson ; crown of the head and feaekv of the neck paly yeH^if each feather very slightly
margined with bro^yn; space under the eye^dnll crimson;- cheeks blue; back and shoulders dark olives
black, each feather edged with green ^middle o f the wings blue ; the basal half of the primaries blue
on their external edges, the remainder blackish brown ; rump and two middle tail-feathers green, the
remainder of the tail-feathers dark blue at the base, lighter towards the tip; under surface of the body
yellow ; bill flesh-colour ; feet greyish brown? -
The adults of both sexes are very similar, but â ^QhMde^abïe difference exists in birds of different ages,
the young of the year being greenish olive with a s l | p f l i | p of blue on the cheeks, wings, and outer
tail-feathers,, and a faint ihM a t|m | of the re ^ v in a ft^ n the forehead. * 4® they advance in age they gradually
assume the plumage of the adult, which ^ ^ P mhy accomplished until the second or third year.
The Plate represents fully adult sexes of the natural size.