NESTS AND EGGS 01- AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 6i; 



were mucli about the same size, and there were fifty of them occupied, 

 that makes a grand total of 75,000 ; and besides that, a large flock 

 had flo\vn away to roost elsewhere. No wonder then that in my 

 previous papers I said that I should, more than once, have to bring 

 before my readers the extreme prolificness of life in these regions. 



■' Still this was an exti-a large flock ; the water having ckied up 

 for so many miles around, had caused this enormous congregation. 

 I never before or since saw anything like the present numbers. Living 

 is easy work for them, for the plains are covered with a great variety 

 of seeds of herbs and grasses, and besides these they also feed on the 

 roots of various plants, which their long beaks enable them to dig up 

 without difficulty." 



Mr. Keartland reports that the Blood-stained Cockatoo, on the 

 Fitzroy River (North-west), usually lays during August and September, 

 and that in November the natives secure immense numbers of the 

 nestlings, which they regard a« excellent food. 



484. — Cac.\tua eoseicapilla, Vieillot. — (394) 

 ROSE-BREASTED COCKATOO (GALAH). 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, foL, vol. v., pi. 4. 



Rtfcrence. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mas., vol. xx., p. 132. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould : Birds of Australia (1S48) , 

 also Handbook, vol. ii., p. 10 (1S65) ; Ramsay : I'roc. Linn. 

 Soc, N.S. Wales, vol. vii., p. 53 (i8Si) ; North : Austn. Mus. 

 Cat., pi. 14, fig. 3 (1889), also Trans. Roy. Soc, South 

 Australia, vol. xxii., p. 163 (1898). 



Geographical Distributiuii. — Australia in general. 



Xent. — Within a hole in a tree, usually near or standing in water. 



Ef/(/s. — Clutch, four to seven, but usually five ; round oval in shape ; 

 texture of shell comparatively fine ; sm-face slightly glossy, occasionally 

 with limy nodules ; colour, pure white. Dimensions in inches of a 

 pair : (1) 1-4 x 1-04, (2) 1-39 x 1-06 ; of a rounder pair : (1) 135 x 1-09, 

 (2) 1-34 X 1-08. 



Observations. — Tliis lovely Cockatoo is distributed generally through- 

 out Australia, especially in the interior provinces, where it may be seen 

 at times in immense flocks. What an enchanting sight to witness 

 huuch'eds of these birds on the wing, wheeling low, and simultaneously 

 showing their silvei-y grey backs, then a flash of roseate-tinted under- 

 surfaccs ! 



Govdd records that during the years 1839 and 1840 the Rose-breasted 

 Cockatoo bred in considerable nimibers in the holes of large gum-trees 

 skirting the Nundewar Range, and afforded an abundant supply of yoimg 

 ones for the earners and stock-men to transport to Sydney, where they 

 were sold for a considerable sum, to be shipped to England. 



