The BLACK-TAILED SUPERB PARROT is found in numerous flocks on the banks
of the Murray, and lives principally among thick shrubs and upon the
gum-trees. Its food consists of seeds, buds, and the honey which it
obtains from the blossoms of the Eucalypti. Its flight is very rapid; its
voice a loud screaming cry, which becomes a discordant chatter when a
flock settles.
* * * * *
We are more intimately acquainted with the so-called GRASS PARROTS
(_Platycerci_), a beautifully marked, small-beaked, high-footed race,
whose short tail is broader at the end than at the root. They are found
in New Holland, distributed over the whole of that continent; and, as
they keep together in flocks, are very troublesome to the settlers. In
their habits they have much in common with the Sparrow Parrots and with
the Finches. They run more than they climb, frequenting the country
roads, like our sparrows, the fields, like our finches, or the grassy
plains, like the reed sparrows, and are only found in the woods, or on
solitary trees, during the time that they roost. They wander much about
the country, and appear unexpectedly in great flocks in certain places,
which they leave as suddenly when food becomes scarce. Most species
eat seeds exclusively, preferring those of different kinds of grass.
They differ remarkably from other parrots in the circumstance that the
female lays from six to ten eggs, and rears a numerous family. They can
generally endure captivity, but do not enjoy the company of mankind, and
seldom learn to distinguish their friends from those whom they have cause
to fear.