6j2 nests and eggs of AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



of the white cliffs bordering the Murray River, in South Australia, 

 are annually resorted to foi this purpose by thousands of these 

 Cockatoos, the cliffs being completely honeycombed by them. 

 I have questioned many masters of the river steamers, as well as old 

 trappers, and they have no knowledge of the Cockatoos resorting to 

 the localitj' described, excepting Captain F. C. Hansen, who beUeves 

 some of the birds still lay there, because he has seen them in the 

 neighboiu-hood, and has also seen Galahs going in and out of the holes. 



The long defunct Wcrribee tribe of aborigines called the White 

 Cockatoo " Ny-euk." 



Usual breeding months August to November, but in some parts 

 of Queensland they lay as carlj' as June and as late as January. White 

 Cockatoos were found breeding in the red-gums on the coiu-se of the 

 Wimmera River, above Lake Albacutya, Victoria, about the middle of 

 October, 1898. The eggs (a pair in each case) were nearly incubated. 



" Up a Tree," as we Australians say, would perhaps have been a 

 better motto for Mr. Le Souef's picture of Mr. Hariy Barnard 

 " Taking a White Cockatoo's Nest." (See illustration.) 



481. — Cacatua leadbeateri, Vigors. — (392) 

 PINK COCKATOO. 



Figure. — Gould: Birds of Australia, fol., vol. v., pi. 2. 

 Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit Mus., vol. xx., p. 123. 

 Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Campbell : Southern Science Record 

 (1883); North; Austn. Mus. Cat., p. 251, pi. 14, fig. 2 (i8Sg). 



Geof/rnj)hical Disfrihiifinn. — Interior of Australia in genei'al. 



Nest. — Within a liole of a tree, sometimes in trees standing in 

 water. 



Efff/n. — Clutch, two to four ; rotuidish in shape, slightly more 

 compressed at one end ; texture of shell comparatively fine ; surface 

 slightly glossy ; coloiu", pure white. Dimensions in inches of proper 

 clutches: A (1) 1-48 x 1-04, (2) 1-42 x Ml, (3) 1-41 x Ml; 

 B(l) 1-58 X 1-09, (2) 1-5 X 1-08, (3) 1-48 x 1-08. 



Oli.'^cnriiioiix. — Besides being Iiighlv prized as an aviary bird, this 

 Cockatoo is undoubtedly the most elegant and handsome of its kind. 

 What person has not admired its general white plumage, so delicately 

 and beautifully tinted with rose-colour? The roseate hue is more 

 pronounced on the forehead and portions of the underneath parts. 

 Each feather of the crest, when erected, shows crimson, with a spot 

 of yellow in the centre, and is tipped with white. The bill is a light 

 liorny colour, and feet dark-brown, and, if I remember rightly, the 

 lovely eyes are ruby-coloured. 



