352 NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



those of the kakapo. It has an extraordinarily large head. Pezoporus formosus 

 occupies the same regions as Geopsittacus, and extends across to Tasmania. It has 

 longer wings, the second and third quills being the longest. 



The cockatoos, forming the family PLICTOLOPHID^E, are mostly confined to the 

 East Indian Archipelago, Papua, and Australia. One of the most striking features is 

 the crown of erectile feathers on the heads of most of the species. When quiet these 

 are usually but little conspicuous ; but when something excites the bird, up they are 

 raised, completely changing the whole aspect of their possessor. The beak is strong, 

 about as high as long, its upper half usually flattened or keeled, or, rarely, rounded 

 above. Its cutting edge is excavated behind the point. The cere may be naked or 

 feathered. The wings are long and pointed, and, when at rest, they cover half or 

 more than half of the tail. The tail may be either short or long, and its extremity 

 straight or rounded ; never graduated or wedge-shaped. 



The prevailing color of the plumage is white, black, or brown. The latter color 

 occurs in Nestor. White is found as a predominant color in no other family, while 

 black exists only in Chalcopsittacus (one of the lories), and in Coracopsis (one of the 

 gray parrots). The females are colored like the males, but are recognizable from their 

 smaller size and shorter crown feathers. All are large forms, none being smaller than 

 doves. The common name, cockatoo, is a good phonetic reproduction of the common 

 note of many of the species. 



In their habits they are very social. Not only at the breeding season, but at all 

 times of the year, they form great flocks, usually living in the tops of the highest trees 

 of their tropical homes. Their nests are built in hollow trees, or in clefts of the high, 

 rocky cliffs. They are vegetarians, and are especially fond of grain and fruits. Still, 

 exceptions in this respect are to be noticed. Licmetis lives on roots and bulbs which 

 it digs from the earth, while Calyptorhynchus, with its strong beak, tears the bark 

 and excavates the rotten wood of decayed trees in its search for insects and Iarva3. 

 Nestor, again, forms an exception which will be noticed below. 



The family of cockatoos embraces thirty-two species, arranged in five genera. 

 Apparently the extinct Lophopsittacus mauritanicus also belongs to the same family, 

 although in some respects it is allied to the American genus Sittace. 



All of the species of Nestor, except one from Papua, belong to the New Zealand 

 fauna. They are the most aberrant members of the family, and in several respects 

 differ from the diagnosis given above. They lack the long crown feathers of the 

 others, have a tail only half as long as the wings, its extremity straight, an elongate 

 bill, the upper half of which frequently extends quite a distance beyond the lower. 

 Indeed, the whole facies of these birds is such that they are frequently arranged in the 

 family Trichoglossidae. 



Half-way between New Zealand and New Caledonia are two small islands, Norfolk 

 and Philip. On the latter is (or, rather, was) found the Philip Island parrot, Nestor 

 productas. This small island has an area of only about five square miles, and only here 

 occurred this species. Though Norfolk Island is distant but four miles, this parrot 

 has never been found there. With this extremely restricted distribution it is no 

 wonder that it has now become extinct. It was fond of soft, succulent vegetables, 

 and was said, by the aid of its long hooked beak, to dig roots from the earth. Still, 

 like all the genus, it was fond of honey and the nectar of flowers. In color it was brown 

 above, red below, breast, throat, and cheeks yellow. The Norfolk Island parrot, N. 

 norfokensis, a similar species, with the top of the head green, is also said to be extinct. 



