6o4 NESTS A.VD EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



tame j aud I have kuowu an old bird to peixli herself quietly close to 

 me, while I have been examining the hole beneath, which contained her 

 eggs. When the young are hatched, both the old bu'ds go to the 

 adjacent grounds for a supply of food, which generally consists of the 

 seeds of some leguminous plant, and, having filled their crops and throats, 

 they both return, when one of them commences feeding one young, 

 and the other attends to and feeds the second. The young birds eat 

 an immense quantity of seeds, and arc very soon able to leave the nest; 

 but the old ones continue to feed them for some time longer. They 

 utter a veiy pccuhar low, continued, plaintive, screeching cry when 

 hungry. As the old birds disgorge the food and 23ush it into the mouth 

 of the young, they make a very ciuious noise, sounding like ' chucka, 

 chucka, chucka,' rapidly repeated." 



The following are more recent Tasmanian notes which have been 

 kindly forwarded to me ; - — 



Mr. A. E. Breut states that in 1884 he found a Funereal Cockatoo's 

 nest containing only one fresh egg. There was no chance of his return- 

 ing to the locality for the completed clutch, so he decided that one egg 

 in the hand was worth two in the bush, and took it. 



Mr. Percy Grubb (Longford) writes to say that he found a nest on 

 Sth Febi-uary, 1896, containing a yoimg Funereal Cockatoo. The nest 

 was the dead part of the top of a tree, at a height of about seventy 

 feet from the ground. The depth of the hole was twenty-five inches, 

 diameter of entrance eighteen inches. On the principle that " half a 

 loaf is better than no bread, " Mr. Gnibb took half an egg shell which 

 was in the nesting hole and ^^laced it in his collection. 



Mr. Leo Biu'bui-y, in January, 1896, took a nest containing a pair. 

 This is supposed to be the first ( ?) full set ever taken in Tasmania. 



Mr. A. E. Brent, on the Sth Januaiy, 1897, discovered another nest 

 of this species, and made interesting observations on the habits of the 

 birds. He says : — " For about three weeks, when the female is sitting, 

 I discovered that the male would go to the nest three times a day — 

 at morn, noon, and night — aud was most regulai'. I would find myself 

 standing, watch in hand, looking for lum regularly every day for several 

 days, aud found that liis times never varied more than seven minutes. 

 To ascertain liis reasons, I went to the nest at night, and crept, wdthout 

 disturbing the sitting bird, to a spot from where I could see all that 

 went on, and waited. After some time, the old bird's ci-y would be 

 heard in the distance, and at the same tune the female's head would 

 appear at the hole, and she would answer him with a small scream, and 

 would repeat in answer to him as he drew near. As soon as he 

 appeared in sight she would fly out and settle on a dry branch, meeting 

 him there, and after the usual greeting he would sit and feed her for 

 fully ten minutes, just as if she had been a young bird. After tliis 

 she would sit and preen her feathers for a time, and then return to the 

 nest, always entering tiic hole tail first. Tliis pcrfonnancc I witnessed 

 for several days." 



At Coomooboolaroo, Queensland, Mr. Barnard's sons took a nest in 

 June, 1884, with two eggs, which were deposited in the tree six feet 

 below the entrance to the hole. Another, with young, was taken July 



