Part 2

As I regard the Long-billed White Cockatoos from Western Australia and New South Wales as distinct, the habitat of the present species, so far as is yet known, is confined to the districts of Port Philip and South Australia, where it inhabits the interior rather than the neighbourhood of the coast. Like the common _Cacatua galerita_, it assembles in large flocks and spends much of its time on the ground, where it grubs up the roots of Orchids and other bulbous plants upon which it mainly subsists, and hence the necessity for its singularly-formed bill. It not unfrequently makes inroads to the newly-sown fields of corn, where it is the most destructive bird imaginable. It passes over the ground in a succession of hops, much more quickly than the _Cacatua galerita_; its powers of flight also exceed those of that bird, not perhaps in duration, but in the rapidity with which it passes through the air. I noticed this particularly when a flock passed me in the interior of South Australia. I have seen many individuals of this species in captivity, both in New South Wales and in this country; and although they appear to bear confinement equally as well as the other members of the family, they seemed more dull and morose, and of a very irritable temper.

The eggs, which are white, two in number, and about the size of those of the _Cacatua galerita_, are usually deposited on a layer of rotten wood at the bottom of holes in the larger gum-trees.

The sexes are alike in colour and size.

The general plumage white, washed with pale brimstone-yellow on the under surface of the wing, and with bright brimstone-yellow on the under surface of the tail; line across the forehead and lores scarlet; the feathers of the head, neck and breast are also scarlet at the base, showing through the white, particularly on the breast; irides light brown; bill white; naked skin round the eye greenish blue; legs and feet dull olive-grey.

The two figures in the accompanying Plate are rather less than the natural size.

NESTOR PRODUCTUS, _Gould_. Phillip Island Parrot.

_Wilson’s Parrakeet_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 170.?

_Long-billed Parrakeet_, Ib., p. 171.?

_Plyctolophus productus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV. 1836, p. 19.

_Nestor productus_, Gould, Syn. of the Birds of Australia, Part I.

I have considerable pleasure in being enabled to add a second and so beautiful a species as the present to the genus _Nestor_ of Wagler. Like its near ally, the _N. hypopolius_, which, so far as is yet known, is only found in New Zealand, the _N. productus_ has a very limited habitat, the entire race, as I am credibly informed, being confined to Phillip Island, whose whole circumference is not more than five miles in extent; so strictly in fact is it confined to this isolated spot, that many persons who have resided in Norfolk Island for years, have assured me its occurrence there is never known, although the distance from one island to the other is not more than three or four miles. I regret to state, that, in consequence of the settlement of Norfolk Island, the native haunts of this fine bird have been so intruded upon, and such a war of extermination been carried on against it, that if such be not the case already, the time is not far distant when the species will be completely extirpated, and, like the Dodo, its skin and bones become the only mementos of its existence.

Had I been able to visit Norfolk and Phillip Islands, I should certainly have made every inquiry into the native habits and economy of this very singular form among the Parrots, the nature of its food, mode of procuring it, &c.; and I would now urge the necessity of these investigations upon those who may be favourably situated for making them. Like all the other members of the extensive family of _Psittacidæ_, it bears captivity remarkably well, readily becoming contented, cheerful, and an amusing companion. During my stay at Sydney, I had an opportunity of seeing a living example in the possession of Major Anderson, and was much interested with many of its actions, which were so different from those of every other member of its family, that I felt convinced they were equally different and curious in a state of nature. This bird was not confined to a cage, but permitted to range over the house, along the floors of which it passed, not with the awkward waddling gait of a Parrot, but in a succession of leaps, precisely after the manner of the _Corvidæ_. Mrs. Anderson, to whom I am indebted for the little I could learn respecting it, informed me that it is found among the rocks and upon the loftiest trees of the island, that it is so tame as to be readily taken alive with a noose, and that it feeds upon the blossoms of the white-wood tree, or white _Hibiscus_, sucking the honey of the flowers: the mention of this latter circumstance induced me to examine the tongue of the bird, which presented a very peculiar structure, not, like that of the true honey-feeding Parrakeets (the _Trichoglossi_), furnished with a brush-like termination, but with a narrow horny scoop on the under side, which, together with the extremity of the tongue, resembled the end of a finger with the nail beneath instead of above: this peculiarity in the structure of the organ is doubtless indicative of a corresponding peculiarity in the nature of the food upon which the bird subsists. I may mention that Sir J. P. Millbank, Bart., informed me that a living example of this species in his possession evinced a strong partiality to the leaves of the common lettuce and other soft vegetables, and that it was also very fond of the juice of fruits, of cream and butter.

Mrs. Anderson told me that it lays four eggs in the hollow part of a tree, but beyond this I was unable to ascertain anything respecting its nidification.

Its voice is a hoarse, quacking, inharmonious noise, sometimes resembling the barking of a dog.

It would appear from the numerous specimens I have examined that the sexes scarcely differ from each other in colour; the young, on the contrary, have but little of the rich yellow and red markings of the breast, that part being olive-brown like the back.

The general colour of the upper surface brown; head and back of the neck tinged with grey, the feathers of these parts as well as of the back margined with a deeper tint; rump, belly, and under tail-coverts deep red; cheeks, throat, and chest yellow, the former tinged with red; shoulders on their inner surface yellow tinged with rufous olive; tail-feathers banded at the base with orange-yellow and brown; the inner webs of the quill-feathers at the base and beneath, with dusky red and brown; irides very dark brown; bill brown; nostrils, bare skin round the eye, and feet dark olive-brown.

Our Plate represents an old and a nearly adult bird, exhibiting traces of the immature plumage on the chest, of the natural size.

CALYPTORHYNCHUS BANKSII. Banksian Cockatoo.

_Psittacus Banksii_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 107.—Ib. Gen. Syn., p. 63, p. 109.—Parkinson’s Voy., p. 144.—Cook’s Voy., vol. ii. p. 18.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 476.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 199. pl. 27 (female).

_Psittacus magnificus_, Shaw, Nat Misc., pl. 50.

_Calyptorhynchus Banksii_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 271.

—— _stellatus_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., tom. i. p. 683. pl. 27 (a very young bird).—Selby in Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. vi. Parrots, p. 134.

I have abundant reasons for stating that every portion of Australia yet visited by Europeans is inhabited by members of the genus _Calyptorhynchus_, and that at least six species are now known, each of which has its own peculiar limits, beyond which it seldom or never passes. The present species, which is one of those with which we first became acquainted, and to which, as will be seen above, several specific appellations have been given, is a native of New South Wales, out of which colony I have never known it to occur, its range appearing to be limited by Moreton Bay on the east and Port Philip on the south. It is not unfrequently seen in the immediate neighbourhood of Sydney and other large towns, and it alike frequents the brushes and the more open wooded parts of the colony, where it feeds on the seeds of the _Banksiæ_ and _Casuarinæ_, changing its diet however, as occasion may offer, to caterpillars, particularly those that infest the wattles and other low trees. The facility with which it procures these large grubs is no less remarkable than the structure of the bird’s bill, which is admirably adapted for scooping out the wood of both the larger and smaller branches, and by this means obtaining possession of the hidden treasure.

The Banksian Cockatoo is a suspicious and shy bird, and it requires a considerable degree of caution to approach it within gun-shot; there are times however, particularly when it is feeding, when this may be more readily accomplished. It never assembles in large flocks like the White Cockatoo, but moves about either in pairs or in small companies of from four to eight in number. Its flight is heavy, and the wings are moved with a flapping, laboured motion; it seldom mounts high in the air, for although its flight is somewhat protracted, and journeys of several miles are performed, it rarely rises higher than is sufficient to surmount the tops of the lofty _Eucalypti_, a tribe of trees it often frequents, and in the larger kinds of which it almost invariably breeds, depositing its two or three white eggs in some inaccessible hole, spout or dead limb, the only nest being the rotten wood at the bottom, or the chips made by the bird in forming an excavation.

The female and young birds of both sexes differ very considerably from the old male in the marking of their plumage, and hence has arisen no end of confusion and the various names assigned to this bird; the above list of synonyms has been worked out with considerable care, and will I believe be found correct.

It is with feelings of great pleasure that I find that the term _Banksii_, having the priority, the name of the illustrious Banks, will ever be retained as the distinctive appellation of this noble and ornamental bird; and I would that it were in my power to write as many pages respecting its habits and economy as I have lines; but this task must devolve upon some future historian of the productions of a country teeming with the highest interest, and who will doubtless find occupation in investigating the minute details of that respecting which I am only able to give a general outline.

The male has the entire plumage glossy greenish black, with a broad band of rich deep vermilion across the middle of all but the two central tail-feathers, and the external web of the outer feather on each side; feet mealy brown; bill in young specimens greyish white, in old specimens black.

The female has the general plumage glossy greenish black, each feather of the head, sides of the neck and wing-coverts pale yellow; under surface crossed by narrow irregular bars of pale yellow, becoming fainter on the abdomen; under tail-coverts crossed by narrow freckled bars of yellowish red; tail banded with red, passing into sulphur-yellow on the inner margins of the feathers, and interrupted by numerous narrow irregular bars and freckles of black.

The Plate represents the male and female about two-thirds of the natural size.

CALYPTORHYNCHUS MACRORHYNCHUS, _Gould_. Great-billed Black Cockatoo.

_Calyptorhynchus macrorhynchus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X. p. 138.

_Lȁr-a-wuk_, Natives of Taratong.

All the examples of this species that have come under my notice have been collected at Port Essington, where it is usually seen in small troops of from four to six in number. It has many characters in common with the Black Cockatoos of the south coast, but no species of the genus yet discovered has the bill so largely developed, which development is doubtless requisite to enable it to procure some peculiar kind of food at present unknown to us; it assimilates to the _C. Cookii_ of New South Wales in the lengthened form of its crest, but differs in having much shorter wings, and in the mandibles being fully one-third larger. The females of the two species also vary considerably in the colouring of the bands across the tail-feathers, which in the _C. Cookii_ is pure scarlet, while the same part of the female of the present bird is mingled yellow and scarlet. It differs from the _C. naso_ of Western Australia in having a larger bill than that species, and in the much greater length of the crest; a similar difference is also observable in the colouring of the tail-feathers of the females that has been already pointed out with regard to _C. Cookii_.

It is a very powerful species, and its habits and economy are so similar to the other members of the genus that a description of them would be superfluous.

The male has the whole of the plumage glossy bluish black; lateral tail-feathers, except the external web of the outer one, crossed by a broad band of fine scarlet; bill horn-colour; irides blackish brown; feet mealy blackish brown.

The female has the general plumage as in the male, but with the crest-feathers, those on the sides of the face and neck, and the wing-coverts spotted with light yellow; each feather of the under surface, but particularly the chest, crossed by several semicircular fasciæ of yellowish buff; lateral tail-feathers crossed on the under surface by numerous irregular bands of dull yellow, which are broad and freckled with black at the base of the tail, and become narrower and more irregular as they approach the tip; on the upper surface of the tail these bands are bright yellow at the base of the feathers, and gradually change into pale scarlet as they approach the tip; irides blackish brown.

The Plate represents the two sexes about two-thirds of the natural size.

CALYPTORHYNCHUS NASO, _Gould_. Western Black Cockatoo.

_Calyptorhynchus naso_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV. p. 106.

_Kar-rak_, Aborigines of the mountain and lowland, and

_Keer-jan-dee_ of the Aborigines of the northern districts of Western Australia.

_Red-tailed Black Cockatoo_ of the Colonists.

The characters by which this species is distinguished from the _Calyptorhynchus macrorhynchus_, are a smaller bill and a shorter and more rounded crest; the same characters, which I know to be constant, also distinguish it from the _C. Banksii_. The bill is inclined to be gibbose, like that of _C. Leachii_, to which species it also offers a further alliance in its shorter contour, rounded crest, and short tail.

The extent of range enjoyed by the _Calyptorhynchus naso_ I have not been able to ascertain; its great stronghold appears to be the colony of Swan River, where it inhabits all parts of the country. As might be expected, its habits and economy closely resemble those of the other members of the genus. Except in the breeding-season, when it pairs, it may often be observed in companies of from six to fifteen in number.

It breeds in the holes of trees, making no nest, but merely collecting the soft dead wood on which to deposit its eggs, which are generally placed in trees so difficult of access that even the natives dislike to climb them. The eggs are four or five in number; the four given to Mr. Gilbert by the son of the colonial chaplain were taken by a native from a hole in a very high white gum-tree, in the last week of October; they are white, one inch and eight lines long by one inch and four lines broad.

It flies slowly and heavily, and while on the wing utters a very harsh and grating cry, resembling the native name.

The stomach is membranous and capacious, and the food of those examined contained seeds of the _Eucalypti_, _Banksiæ_, &c.

The sexes, which differ considerably in colour, may be thus described:—

The male has the entire plumage glossy greenish black; lateral tail-feathers, except the external web of the outer one, crossed by a broad band of fine scarlet; irides dark blackish brown; bill bluish lead-colour, becoming much paler on the under side of the lower mandible; feet brownish black, with a leaden tinge.

The female has the upper surface similar to, but not so rich as, that of the male, and has an irregularly shaped spot of yellowish white near the tip of each of the feathers of the head, crest, cheeks and wing-coverts; the under surface brownish black, crossed by numerous narrow irregular bars of dull sulphur-yellow; the under tail-coverts crossed by several irregular bars of mingled yellow and dull scarlet; the lateral tail-feathers dull scarlet, fading into yellow on the base of the inner webs, and crossed by numerous irregular bars of black, which are narrow at the base of the feathers and gradually increase in breadth towards the tip.

The Plate represents the two sexes about two-thirds of the natural size.

CALYPTORHYNCHUS LEACHII. Leach’s Cockatoo.

_Psittacus Banksii_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 107. variety β.

_Banksian Cockatoo_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii. p. 91 A.—White’s Journ., pl. in p. 139.—Phil. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 267.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 200 A.

_Psittacus Cookii_, Temm. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 111.

———— _Solandri_, Temm. in Linn. Trans., vol. xiii. p. 113.

_Solander’s Cockatoo_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 201.

_Cook’s Cockatoo_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 201.

_Psittacus Leachii_, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt, in Nov. Acta, vol. x. p. 91. pl. 3.

———— _Temminckii_, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt, in Nov. Acta, vol. x. p. 89.

_Calyptorhynchus Cookii_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 272.

———— _Solandri_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 274.

———— _Leachii_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt, in Abhand., vol. i. p. 683.

———— _Temminckii_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt, in Abhand., vol. i. p. 684.

———— _stellatus_, Selb. in Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. vi. Parrots, p. 134. pl. 15.

_Carat_, Aborigines of New South Wales.

The _Calyptorhynchus Leachii_ is the least species of the genus yet discovered, and independently of its smaller size, it may be distinguished from its congeners by the more swollen and gibbose form of its bill. Its native habitat is New South Wales and South Australia. I obtained specimens of it on the Lower Namoi, more than three hundred miles in the interior; and the cedar brushes of the Liverpool range, Mr. Charles Throsby’s park at Bong-bong, and the sides of the creeks of the Upper Hunter, were also among the places in which I killed it. So invariably did I find it among the _Casuarinæ_, that those trees appeared to be as essential to its existence as the _Banksiæ_ are to that of some species of Honey-eater. The crops of those I killed were invariably filled with the seeds of the trees in question. Its disposition is less shy and distrusting than those of the _Calyptorhynchi Banksii_ and _funereus_, but little stratagem being required to get within gun-shot; when one is killed or wounded, the rest of the flock either fly around or perch on the neighbouring trees, and every one may be procured. It has the feeble, whining call of the other members of the genus. Its flight is laboured and heavy; but when it is necessary for it to pass to a distant part of the country, it mounts high in the air and sustains a flight of many miles.

It is not unusual to find individuals of this species with yellow feathers on the cheeks and other parts of the head; this variation I am unable to account for; it is evidently subject to no law, as it frequently happens that six or eight may be seen together without one of them exhibiting this mark, while on the contrary a like number may be encountered with two or three of them thus distinguished. To this circumstance, and to the variation in the colouring of the tail-feathers of the two sexes, may be attributed the voluminous list of synonyms pertaining to this species.

Why living examples of the members of this genus have not as yet reached Europe, is not easily to be accounted for. I found no difficulty in keeping a winged bird alive for a short time, and I doubt not that were the attempt made, it might be easily introduced to our aviaries; the real cause probably is the extreme difficulty of procuring young individuals, the breeding-place selected by the bird being holes in the highest trees situated in the most remote parts of the forests, where none but the Aborigines are likely to discover or able to procure them.

There is no doubt that Mr. Caley is right in the opinion expressed in his notes that this is the _Carat_ of the natives; and he adds that it lays two eggs in the holes of the trees; “does not cut off the branches of trees like the _Cal. funereus_, but cuts off _May-rybor-ro_ and _Mun-mow_ (the fruit of two species of _Persoonia_), without however eating them, before they are ripe, to the great injury and vexation of the natives.”

The adult male may at all times be distinguished from the female by the broad band of scarlet on the tail. The females and males during the first year have this part banded with black, as shown in the accompanying Plate.

The old male has the entire plumage glossy greenish black, washed with brown on the head and neck, with a broad band of deep vermilion across the middle of all but the two centre tail-feathers, and the external web of the outer feather on each side; irides very dark brown; orbits mealy black in some, in others pinky; bill dark horn-colour; feet mealy black.

The females and young males differ in having the head and neck browner than in the adult male, and in having the scarlet band on the tail crossed by narrow bands of greenish black.

The figures are nearly the size of life.

CALYPTORHYNCHUS FUNEREUS. Funereal Cockatoo.

_Psittacus funereus_, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 186.—Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in. Nova Acta, etc., vol. x. p. 89.—Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl., vol. i. p. xxii.

_Funereal Cockatoo_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 202.

_Banksian Cockatoo_, Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl., vol. i. p. 91. C.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 477.

_Calyptorhynchus funereus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 271.

_Plyctolophus funeralis_, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 302.

_Wy-la_, Aborigines of the Upper Hunter in New South Wales.