Among the numerous members of the family of Parrots inhabiting Australia, this lovely little bird is preeminent both for beauty of plumage and elegance of form, which, together with its extreme cheerfulness of disposition and sprightliness of manner, render it an especial favourite with all who have had an opportunity of seeing it alive. This animated disposition is as conspicuous in confinement as in its native wilds; a pair now before me are in exuberant health after having braved the severities of a passage to this country by way of Cape Horn in the midst of winter. The first notice of this species was published by Dr. Shaw in his “Naturalist’s Miscellany,” and until lately, a single specimen, forming part of the collection of the Linnean Society, was the only one known; more recently, however, numbers have been added to our museums, and the bird is now far from being scarce. In all probability it is generally dispersed over the central parts of Australia; but is so exclusively an inhabitant of the vast inland plains, or, if I may so call it, basin of the interior, that it is rarely seen between the mountain ranges and the coast. In the whole southern portion of the continent it is strictly migratory, appearing in large flocks in spring, when the grass-seeds are plentiful, and retiring again after the breeding-season is over to more northern latitudes. My friend Captain Sturt, in one of his letters, dated at Adelaide, South Australia, informs me, that “The Scolloped Parrakeets,” the name given to these birds in that part of the country, “are found in vast flocks in the interior, and make their appearance here about October, following each other in flights like Starlings, in company with the little Crested Parrot (_Nymphicus Novæ-Hollandiæ_), holding a due north and south course. The flight of both is very rapid, and although an interval of half an hour may elapse, they all wend their way in the same direction. Whence come they?”