_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
EUPHEMA PULCHELLA, _Wagler_.
Chestnut-shouldered Grass-Parrakeet.
_Psittacus pulchellus_, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 96.—Ib. Gen. Zool., vol.
viii. p. 470.—Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 122.—Swains. Zool. Ill.
Birds, 1st Ser. pl. 73.—Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp., p. 21.—Kuhl, Nova
Acta, vol. x. p. 50.
_Turcosine Parrakeet_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 89.—Ib. Gen.
Hist., vol. ii. p. 185.
_La Perruche Edwards_, Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr., p. 68, female.
_Psittacus chrysogaster_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 97.
_Orange-bellied Parrot_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., p. 62.—Ib. Gen. Hist.,
vol. ii. p. 186.
_Orange-bellied Parrakeet_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 468.
_Psittacus Edwardsii_, Bechst. in Lath. Uebers. der Vog., p. 74.
_Nanodes pulchellus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
277.—Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiv. p. 118.
_Lathamus azureus_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 205.
_Euphema pulchella_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., pp. 493 and 542.
All those who have traversed the “bush” in New South Wales will
recognize in this lovely species an old favourite; during my own rambles
my attention was constantly attracted by its beautiful outspread tail
and wings as it rose before me. Its sole food being the seeds of grasses
and of the smaller annuals, it spends much of its time on the ground,
and appears to evince a greater partiality for stony ridges than for the
rich alluvial flats, which is probably owing to the former producing a
greater supply of its favourite food. When flushed it flies off to a
short distance between the trees, perches on some dead branch for a
time, and if impelled by hunger, returns to the ground almost
immediately. I have never seen this species congregated in large flocks
like the _Euphema chrysostoma_ and _E. elegans_; but have either met
with it in pairs, or in small companies of six or eight in number.
I did not succeed in finding a nest of this species, although I doubt
not that during my visit to the district of the Upper Hunter it was
breeding everywhere around me; but Mr. Caley states, on the authority of
the natives, that it lays eight white eggs in the hole of a tree without
any nest but the decayed wood.
The sexes differ so little in colour, that dissection must be resorted
to to distinguish them.
Forehead, stripe over the eye, cheeks, shoulders, and lesser
wing-coverts rich metallic greenish blue; crown of the head, back of the
neck, upper surface and flanks bright olive-green; a bright spot of
chestnut-red at the insertion of the wings; primaries and secondaries
deep blue on their outer webs, and blackish brown on the inner; chest,
centre of the abdomen, and under tail-coverts rich yellow; four middle
tail-feathers green, the remainder green at the base and largely tipped
with yellow; bill and feet dark brown.
The Plate represents the two sexes of the natural size, on one of the
grasses of the Upper Hunter.
[Illustration:
EUPHEMA SPLENDIDA: _Gould_.
_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
EUPHEMA SPLENDIDA, _Gould_.
Splendid Grass Parrakeet.
_Euphema splendida_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part VIII. p. 147.
It is a source of much regret to me, that I am unable to give more than
a very slight notice of the beautiful bird that forms the subject of the
present Plate. The single specimen from which my description was taken
came into my possession in 1840, unfortunately without any other
information accompanying it than that it was a native of Swan River;
from that period no other example occurred until 1845, when several fine
specimens were transmitted to me by the late Mr. Johnson Drummond, who
had killed them near Moore’s River in Western Australia, and from whom I
should doubtless have received some particulars respecting the habits of
this lovely species, had he not been treacherously murdered by a native
in his company, while engaged in seeking for materials for this and my
other works on the Fauna of Australia.
The Splendid Grass Parrakeet is in every respect a true _Euphema_, and
has many characters in common with the _E. pulchella_, but differs from
that species in the entire absence of the chestnut mark on the
shoulders, in the more intense blue of the face, and in the gorgeously
rich scarlet colouring of the chest; and is rendered remarkably
conspicuous by the brilliant display of the three primitive
colours—blue, red and yellow—on its face, breast and abdomen.
The male has the face and ear-coverts deep indigo-blue, becoming paler
on the latter; all the upper surface grass-green; upper wing-coverts
beautiful lazuline blue; under wing-coverts deep indigo-blue; primaries
and secondaries black; the first three or four primaries slightly
margined with green; two centre tail-feathers dark green; the remaining
tail-feathers black on the internal webs, green on the external webs and
largely tipped with bright yellow, which increases in extent as the
feathers recede from the centre; chest rich deep scarlet; under surface
yellow, passing into green on the sides of the chest and flanks.
The female differs in having the face and wing-coverts, both above and
beneath, of a pale lazuline blue, and in the chest being green instead
of scarlet.
The Plate represents two males and a female on a branch of _Beaufortia
decussata_, one of the plants of Western Australia.
[Illustration: