_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
PLATYCERCUS ICTEROTIS, _Wagl._
The Earl of Derby’s Parrakeet.
_Psittacus icterotis_, Temm. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 120.—Kuhl,
Consp. Psitt. in Nova Acta, etc., p. 54. no. 86.
_Platycercus Stanleyii_, Vig. in Zool. Journ. 1830, p. 274.
—— _icterotis_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand. etc., p. 530.—Gould in
Syn. Birds of Australia.
_Platycercus icterodes_, Bourj. St. Hil. Supp. to Le Vaill. Hist. Nat.
des Perr., pl. 30.
_Gȍotd-un-gȍotd-un_, Aborigines of the lowland, and
_Mȍy-a-duk_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
_Rose-hill_ of the Colonists.
This beautiful little Parrakeet was first made known to science by M.
Temminck, who described it under the name of _Psittacus icterotis_;
which fact could not have been known to the late Mr. Vigors when he
named it _Platycercus Stanleyii_, as a tribute of respect to the present
Earl of Derby, at that time Lord Stanley; a tribute so merited, that I
cannot but regret the necessity of depriving the bird of this
distinctive appellation, and of restoring to it that of _icterotis_, as
bound by justice to the first describer. But in still associating his
Lordship’s name with this species, in the form of an English
appellation, I feel I shall have the acquiescence of all ornithologists.
From the little that is known of the history of this species it would
appear that its range is very limited, the colony of Swan River in
Western Australia being the only locality in which it has as yet been
seen in a state of nature; there, however, it is one of the most common
birds of the country, and, except in the breeding-season, may always be
seen in large flocks, which approach so near to the houses of the
settlers as frequently to visit their gardens and ploughed lands. It
generally feeds on the ground, on the seeds of various kinds of grasses
and the scattered grain of the farmer; but not unfrequently attacks and
deals destruction among the ripe fruits of his garden, especially if
they be left unprotected.
If my readers wish to form an idea of the scenery of Australia, they
must imagine a country the climate of which is second to no other,
clothed with flowering trees and shrubs of the greatest beauty, and
enlivened with flocks of hundreds of the attractive bird figured on the
accompanying Plate, and numerous other members of the genus of equal
beauty, together with the fire-breasted Robins, the lovely _Maluri_,
with their resplendent metallic plumage, and many more of the feathered
tribes conspicuous for the brilliancy of their hues and the elegance of
their forms: they will then have some slight conception of the
enchanting scene which it presents.
Like most other members of the genus, the _Platycercus icterotis_ offers
no difference in the colouring of the sexes of the same age. They do not
acquire the adult plumage until the second year; during the first year
they are green, which colour gradually gives place to the fine colouring
of maturity.
Its flight is of short duration, and consists of a series of rather
rapid undulating sweeps.
Its note is a feeble, piping kind of whistle, which is occasionally so
much varied and lengthened as almost to assume the character of a song.
The eggs, which are six or seven in number and of a white colour, are
eleven lines long and nine and a half lines broad; they are deposited in
the holes of large trees without any nest.
Crown of the head and back of the neck, chest and all the under surface
scarlet; cheeks and thighs yellow; feathers of the back black, bordered
with green, yellow, and in some instances scarlet; rump and upper
tail-coverts yellowish green; shoulders and outer edges of the primaries
blue, the inner webs and tips of the latter blackish brown; two middle
tail-feathers green; the remaining feathers light blue tipped with
white, with the basal portion of a darker blue tinged with green; bill
light horn-colour; feet and legs dull ashy brown; irides blackish brown.
The young birds of both sexes are nearly of a uniform green, becoming
parti-coloured as they advance in age; the scarlet of the crown and
abdomen, and the yellow of the cheeks gradually taking the place of the
green colouring of youth.
It is questionable whether the female, like the female of _P. eximius_,
ever attains the fine plumage of the male.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size.
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