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AUSTRALIAN 102 FIELD ORNITHOLOGY AUSTRALIAN FIELD ORNITHOLOGY 2008, 25, 102–108 Reviews— Glimpses of Paradise: The Quest for the Beautiful Parrakeet by Penny Olsen, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2007. Softcover, 22.5 × 25.5 cm, 277 pp, many colour & b/w photos, paintings. RRP $35 (available from BOCA to members for $29.25). Pulcherrimus, the most beautiful. And what a sorry tale is the Paradise Parrot’s, from pathos and tragedy surrounding its entry to science, through early exploitation and wholesale habitat destruction, to more tragedy ending the last authentic records of it, and finally to deceit, skullduggery, criminal activity, denial, self- delusion and fruitless searches in the ensuing decades. It is also part social history, revealing the character of the ‘greats’ and scoundrels in the various periods, and the interconnected circles of acquaintances. This timely and necessary book starts with some apt quotes, among them one from the Monty Python ‘Dead Parrot’ sketch, then provides some background to the book and a tabulated list of major figures in the Parrot’s history. The first three chapters provide a history of John Gilbert’s discovery, and John Gould’s naming, of the species, and the eventual collection and description of the female. Poor Gilbert, robbed of his desired Platycercus gilberti by a combination of unfortunate circumstances. Chapter 4 is an important one critically reviewing the evidence for the Parrot’s true historical distribution, and scotching claims that it occurred on Cape York and in present-day New South Wales (after Queensland separated). Chapter 5 recounts the early live-trapping of the Parrots for European aviculture and nobility. Chapter 6 is an account of the Parrot’s eggs: the early (genuine) Barnard clutches, and Guyatt’s false clutches, which duped even the likes of Mervyn Goddard. Along the way we learn of the officious persecution of Goddard, and hence the deplorable loss to science of most of his meticulous egg collection and data. Chapter 7 describes the biology of termites (whose mounds provided the Parrot with its only nest-sites), and details the removal of vast quantities of their mounds, in the Parrots’ core distribution, for ‘cement’ flooring in various human constructions. Chapter 8 describes the commensal moths that live in the antbed parrots’ nests: two species that cohabit, respectively, with the Golden-shouldered and Hooded Parrots, and speculates that a third lived in Paradise Parrots’ nests but was probably extinct before it could be described. Chapter 9 is an account of Chisholm’s quest that resulted in Cyril Jerrard’s information on the Parrot and its nesting events, partly published by Chisholm (see Jerrard’s essay on pp. 59–65 herein). Colin Lendon (see following review) located Jerrard’s surviving brothers, and so Jerrard’s essay and other pertinent information came to light. Jerrard’s were the last verified sightings and nests. We also learn that, incredibly, the RAOU congress in 1924 visited the Barnards’ property (where the Parrot had disappeared), but not Jerrard’s property where it was still extant, and that no one other than Chisholm visited there at the time. Chapter 10 convincingly disposes of Irby’s mistaken records of the Paradise Parrot and some other rare birds in northern NSW, and the erroneous claims (based on misidentifications) that it nested in creek-banks and tree-hollows. This chapter also considers the unverifiable Kiernan claim of the early 1990s [see Wingspan 11(3), Sept. 1993] that spawned fruitless searches in the area concerned. Apparently a case of mistaken identity and wishful thinking, perhaps Kiernan’s and his informants’ birds were Blue Bonnets and/or juvenile Pale-headed Rosellas. VOL. 25 (2) JUNE 2008Reviews—Glimpses of Paradise 103 Chapter 11 is the story of smuggling of fauna, and laundering of the proceeds, by Hallstrom; illegal trapping of Golden-shouldered Parrots on Cape York by his underling Mattinson (involving corruption among officialdom); the passing-off of hybrid Mulga × Golden-shouldered Parrots as Paradise Parrots (which have duped some aviculturists in recent times); and the fraudulent claim of Paradise Parrots allegedly bred in captivity. Chapter 12 details rumours, sightings and expeditions since the 1960s. Many of the claims were second- or third-hand reports from non-birders whose identifications were unreliable, hence likely confusion with look-alikes such as the Golden-shouldered Parrot, Mulga Parrot and Blue Bonnet. Furthermore, confusion also arose from the same folk-names for several species, e.g. many were known as ‘grass parrots’ or ‘ground parrots’, and the Turquoise Parrot was also called the Beautiful or Red-shouldered Parrot; some lay informants also confused (by name) the Red-winged Parrot with the ‘Red-shouldered’ (Paradise) Parrot. Then there is the much-touted photograph of the male Paradise Parrot, given to the late Alan Lendon in the 1960s, by an undisclosed source from an undisclosed location (i.e. the origin of the photograph is unverifiable). Surely, 40 years on, these vital details could have been provided to Dr Olsen for appraisal in her book, if Lendon senior had divulged them to anyone. The photograph (reproduced here as Plate 14, p. 107) is undeniably of an adult male Paradise Parrot, but it is so out of focus (deliberately?) that it is impossible to tell whether it is alive, or a stuffed specimen tied to a tree. (Perhaps computer enhancement of the original image could provide an answer.) Olsen deduces that the location was Kulki Station, Queensland (near Hebel), a region where Mattinson was rumoured to have been active. (There is also, confusingly, a Kulki Station near Graman, NSW, which perhaps spawned some of the claims of the Parrot occurring in NSW.) Finally, there is the claim of nests near Ingham in northern Queensland. This hoax shares its origin with the bogus ‘new’ Fig-Parrot for NSW [see Wingspan 17(2), June 2007], and should be regarded in the same light. (And these outcomes must also cast doubt on the Black-breasted Button-quail allegedly occurring and breeding well south of its accepted range in NSW, cf. Emu 96, 202–209.) Tellingly, none of the reputable, expert ornithologists who investigated all these Paradise Parrot claims, and searched for the bird, ever obtained sightings or hard evidence: Goddard, Courtney, Hunt, the Lendons, Officer, Cameron, Nielsen (the last two of whom lived in the Parrot’s country), Pizzey, Sharland, Bennett (in the first RAOU Atlas days), Seton (not ‘Seaton’), Ley, Sonnenburg (not ‘Sonnerberg’), Venables, Carter, Holmes, Izzard, Gosper et al. The final chapter reviews the litany of environmentally destructive events in the Parrot’s core range, and reaches the inevitable conclusion that the Parrot is extinct. Olsen quotes Sharland as saying that trappers have ‘just about rooted the Golden-shouldered [Parrot]’, and one could say the same for 150 years of inappropriate (for the Australian environment) land- and water-management practices in the Paradise Parrot’s habitat. Successive Queensland governments in the Jerrard era and ensuing few decades are culpable. Some of the main conclusions, convincingly argued by Olsen, include the following. • Gilbert’s ability notwithstanding, he clearly mistook the hitherto unknown Golden-shouldered Parrots on Cape York for his Paradise Parrots of the Darling Downs, and all subsequent claims of the Paradise Parrot on Cape York are based on an initial false premise, mistaken identity, and (in some AUSTRALIAN 104Reviews—Glimpses of Paradise FIELD ORNITHOLOGY cases) deceit. Furthermore, these claims, e.g. the Ingham nests, betray an ignorance of ecology and biogeography. • In historical times the Parrot only ever occurred in south-eastern Queensland, centred on the Darling Downs, and it only nested in termite mounds (specifically, the domed ones of Nasutitermes magnus); claims that it occurred in present-day NSW (since the separation of Qld), or nested in banks, trees and stumps, are false or mistaken. • Claims of sightings or nests since the 1940s are bogus or mistaken, or at best unsupported by sufficient evidence. (And if people have incontrovertible evidence to the contrary, let them prove it! With the modern technology available, there should be no excuse.) This scholarly work concludes with an extensive bibliography of sources used for each chapter. I noticed few errors: a (very) few typos or misspellings of people and place-names; ‘dependant’ as an adjective; and ‘peaked’ for ‘piqued’ (which should have been corrected by a National Library editor). Also, the ‘magpies’ subject to bounty were currawongs (aka ‘scrub magpies’); the ‘Brush-turkey’ of the Downs was probably the grassland Bustard (aka Bush Turkey), not the forest Brush-turkey (Alectura); and the Spotted-sided Finch was the Diamond Firetail, not the Zebra Finch. These co-inhabitants of Paradise Parrot country—Bustard and Firetail—are also, of course, now threatened birds of the grassy woodlands. And the parrots on the Nive River near Augathella (Queensland) were probably not Turquoise Parrots, but something else (if not indeed genuine Paradise), as the site is scarcely extralimital to the Paradise’s true range but well beyond the Turquoise’s range. (During the first RAOU Atlas period, I saw possible Paradise Parrot habitat of eucalypt woodland with termite mounds to the north, between Aramac and Clermont, Qld.) I leave any errors of fact or interpretation to the following reviewer, more qualified to comment. The number of museum specimens is staggering, representing excessive collecting: more than 130! One is also left pondering the motives of the people behind the false claims: in some cases perhaps pecuniary, or to obtain eggs of other rare species, but in others apparently just for the notoriety, or self- aggrandisement among peers or ecotourism clients, or because they’re deluded or are pathological liars. Then there are those who cling to vain hopes of the Parrot’s continued existence.

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