THE OSPRKY. 



33 



as the assembled flock hear a noise un- 

 known to them, they approach and amuse 

 the traveller by their various quarrel- 

 some notes and shrieks. If in shooting- 

 at them one only be wounded so that it 

 may be secured, it is an easy matter to 

 shoot one after the other, as they always 

 come back when they hear the cry of a 

 wounded companion." 



The nest is described as being- a poor 

 affair, made in a hollow tree, and the 

 eggs as being- usually four but sometimes 

 six in number. The nest is made in 

 November and by the lirst of January 

 the young- are able to fly. 



The birds make excellent pets, and be- 

 ing- g-ood mimics are often taug-ht to talk. 



Midway between New Zealand and 

 New Calidonia are two small islands, 

 Norfolk and Philip, each of which was 

 once the home of now extinct species of 

 Nestor. Philip Island, the smaller of 

 these, is only about five square miles in 

 area, and althoug-h Norfolk Island is only 

 four miles distant neither species has 

 been found except on its own island. 



The Philip Island Parrot ( N. prodiic- 

 tits) was only about fifteen inches in 

 leng-th and can be readily disting-uished 

 by a broad, yellowish white band across 

 the breast. 



This bird was probably always a rare 

 one, for the limited habitat would pre- 

 clude the probability of its being- very 

 abundant. It seems improbable that 

 there could have been more than a few 

 hundred even when seeing- its most pros- 

 perous days, and it is small wonder that 

 they were so soon exterminated. It ap- 

 pears that the last individual was seen 

 alive about 1851, which g-ives less than 

 fifty years from the time of its discovery 

 to the total extinction. The actual 

 causes of its extinction is not known, but 

 it is probably directly or indirectly trace- 

 able to the advent of civilization. In 

 any event it is g-one as a living- factor, 

 and we have left not more than twenty 

 skins distributed among- the various 

 Museums of the world. As far as I am 

 able to learn there eire only two specimens 

 in this country; one in the collection of 

 the Philadelphia Academy of Science and 

 the other, a very g-ood example, of un- 

 known sex, in the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion. The latter specimen is the one 



from which our fig-ure is taken, and was 

 purchased by B. A. Hoopes about thirty 

 years ag-o, of the late Wm. P. Turnbull 

 of Philadelphia, and was only recently 

 recog-nized as the rare Xesto?'. It was 

 purchased of Mr. Hoopes and g-enerouslv 

 presented to the Smithsonian bv Dr. W. 

 L. Ralph of Utica, New York. 



The Norfolk Island Parrot ( .\: norfol- 

 cotsis ) was the smallest species of the 

 g-enus, being- only twelve inches in leng-th. 

 It is also further disting-uished by havings 

 the long-est bill of any specie known, the 

 l)ill being- 3S inches, and curbed in a semi- 

 circle. In color the head and neck were 

 dull green with the sides of head, under 

 the ej-es and the chin and throat, pale 

 crimson, the remaining- parts being- much 

 as in other species. 



There are no specimens of this bird 

 known to be preserved, and in fact the 

 species rests entirely on Latham's descrip- 

 tion published in 1822, and a color here 

 published by von Pelzeln in 1860. This 

 drawing- was made by F. L. Bauer, a 

 botanical artist, who visited Norfolk 

 Island early in the centur3'. On his 

 death his drawing-s and notes were sold 

 at auction and fortunately fell into ap- 

 preciative hands. Among- them was the 

 painting- of the head of this species, 

 which was taken from a living- subject in 

 Norfolk Island, Jan. 19, 1805. 



The remaining- species is the Count of 

 Essling-'s Parrot \N. Essliugi) which 

 has apparently been extinct for some 

 fifty years. It was a larg-er bird, being- 

 about 18 inches in leng-th, and having- a 

 bill 2.1 inches long-. It approaches most 

 closely to the Kaka { X. ])icridio)/aIis), 

 but differs in having- a broad, yellowish 

 white band between the gray upper 

 breast and the dull red abdomen. The 

 ear coverts are also g-olden yellow. 



Onlj' a single specimen of this species 

 has ever been collected, and the precise 

 place and date of capture of this are both 

 unknown. It was for a time in a private 

 collection, but it was long ago purchased 

 for, and is now preserved in, the Briti^>h 

 Museum. Both this and the Norflok 

 Island species have been regarded by 

 some authors as abnormal variations of 

 certain of the other species, but they 

 differ so markedh^ that this seems hardly 

 probable 



