FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



season, when it is only to be seen in paire. It-s food is 

 much varied ; sometimes the great belts of Banksias are 

 visited and the seed-covers torn open for the snke of 

 their contents : while at others it eearches with avidity 

 for the larvs of the large caterpillars -which are de- 

 posited in the wattles ;ind gums. Its flight, as might 

 be expected, is very hea\-j-, flapping, and laboured, but 

 it sometimes dives aibout between the trees in a most 

 rapid and extraordinary m'anner. 



"■ When bneily engag"ed in scooping off the bark In 

 search of its insect food, it may be approached very 

 closely ; and if one be shot tJie remainder of the com- 

 pany will fly round for a short distance and perch on 

 the neighbouring trees, until the whole ai-e brought 

 d'owTi, if you are desirous of so doing. 



"Its note is very singular — a kind of -whining call, 

 ■which it is impossible to describe, but which somewhat 

 resembles the syllaibles Wi/-la. whence the native name, 



" The eggB, which are -white and two in number, about 

 l|in, long by liin. broad, are deposited on the rotten 

 •wood in the hollow branch of a large gum," 



Mr, Campbell {"Nests and Eggs," p. 604) quotes the 

 following note by Mr, A. E. Brent: "For about three 

 weeks;, when the female is sitting, I discovered tliat the 

 male would go to the nest three times a day — at morn, 

 noon, and night — and was most regular, I would find 

 myself standing, -watch in hand, looking for him, regu- 

 larly every day for several days, and "found that his 

 times never varied more than seven minutes. To ascer- 

 tain his rea.aons I went to the nest at night, and crept, 

 without distui-binir the sitting bird, to a spot from where 

 I could see all that went on, and -waited. After some 

 time the old bird's cry would be heard in the diistance, 

 and nt t<hs> same time the female's head would appear 

 ■a-t the hole, and she -would answer him -with a small 

 scream, and -B'ould 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 eifc and feed her for 

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

 .\fter this .=-he would sit and preen her fe.ithers" for a 

 time, and then -i-eturn to the nest, always entering the 

 hole tail first. This performance I witneVsed for several 

 days." 



First acquired for the Regent's Park collection in 

 1879, and subsequently in 1883 ; in 1880 Miss Hagenbeck 

 e.xhibited a specimen at the " Ornis " Exhibition, in 

 Berlin. 



B.-\NKs' C'ocK..VToo {Cal i/ptfirhi/iic/ius ban/Mi). 

 ^ Glos.^y greenish-black ; tail, excepting the two central 

 leathers, crossed Ly a broad crimson belt; external 

 feather with the outer -n-eb, and all the other belted 

 feathers -n-ith the outer margin, black; crest long; 

 beak leaden grey to greyish-black ; feet mealy black- 

 brown; irides pale to black-brown. Female with the 

 head and upper -wing-coverts spotted and the under 

 surface irregularly barred with vellow, which becomes 

 redder on under tail-coverts; tlie red belt on the tail 

 varied with irregular black bars, changing to sulphur- 

 yellow on the inner margins of the feathers and into 

 yellowish-red on under surface, Hab,, " Eastern Aus- 

 tralia, from Port Denison to New South Wales and 

 Victoria," (Salvadori,) 



Gculd says of this species (" Handbook," Vol, II,, 

 P- 14) : " It is not infrequently seen in the imme- 

 ■diate_ neiahbourhood of Sydney and other large towns, 

 and it alike frequents the brushes and the more open 

 ■wooded parts of the colony, where it feeds on the 

 -seeds of the Fxinksim and Casuariim, but occasionally 



changes its diet to caterpillars, particularly those that 

 infest the -wattles and other low trees. The facility -with 

 which it procures these large gru'os is 'no less remark- 

 able than the structure of the bird's bill, which is 

 admirably adapted for scooping out the -wood of both 

 the larger and smaller branches, and by this means 

 obtaining possession of the hidden treasure within. 



" Tlie Banksian Cockatoo is a suspicious and shy 

 bird, and a considerable degree of cautio'n is required 

 to approach it within gun.^hot; there are times, how- 

 ever, particularly -when it is feeding, when this may be 

 more readily accomplished. It never assembles in large 

 flocks like the Wliite Cockatoo, but moves about either 

 in pairs or in small companies of from four to eight in 

 number. Its flight is heavy, and the -ivings are moved 

 wth a flapping, laboured motion ; it seldom mounts 

 high in the air, for although its flight is somewhat 

 protracted, and journeys of several miles are performed, 

 it rarely rises higher than is sufficient to surmount the 

 tops of the lofty Eucalypti, a tribe of trees it often 

 freqijents, and in the larger kinds of which it almost 

 invariably breeds, depositing its two or three white 

 eggs in some inaccessible hole, spout, or dead limb, the 

 only -nest being the rotten wood at the bottom, or the 

 chips made by the bird in forming an excavation," 



The London Zoological Society first purchased this 

 Cockatoo in 1862, since which time several other 

 examples have been exhibited at the Gardens. Russ 

 speaks of it as " very rare," and yet I think it has 

 been more often owned .a'nd exhibited hy private 

 aviculturists in England than any of the other black 

 species. Mr. C. A. Edwards's IJird is a well-known 

 prize--ftdnner, and in 1907 a pair -were exhibited by Sir C. 

 Lawes Wittewronge, Bart. ' 



Great-billed Bl.^ck Cockatoo 

 (Calyptorhynchiis macrorhynclms) . 



Both sexes are very simiLar to the preceding species, 

 but have a much heavier beak, shorter -wings, and the 

 female has yellow and scarlet mixed on the tail-belt. 

 Hab.. "Northern Australia, from Derby to Rockingham 

 Bay." i(Salvadori.) 



Count Salvadori -was rather doubtful as to the dis- 

 tinctness of this species from the Banksian Cockatoo. 



Campbell says (" Nest and Eggs, p. 608) : 

 " Amongst the mountains and hills near our camp at 

 Cardwell were some of these fine Cockatoos, at least, 

 we took them to be the variety at present under con- 

 sideration. They were exceedingly shy, and -we only 

 procured a pair." 



" When exploring in the far north, Mr. O'Donnell 

 flushed a Black Cockatoo from its nest in a hollow 

 tree. The bird was most probably this Great-billed 

 species. " 



It is uncertain -whether this species has ibeen im- 

 ported, but it is quite likely to have been confounded 

 ■ivith Banks' C-ockatoo. I include it on the strength of 

 a note by 'Six. Seth-Smith in Thr Aumltural 

 Magazine, Second Series, Vol. 11.^ p. 136. 



Wesmrn Black Cockatoo {Calyptorhynchiis Hdlalus). 



DiflFers from the preceding in its smaller and more 

 arched beak, shorter and more rounded crest and 

 shorter tail. According to Gould " the male has the 

 entire plumage glossy greenish-black : lateral tail- 

 feathers, except the external web of the outer one, 

 crossed by a broad band of fine scarlet : irides dark 

 blackish-brown : bill bluish lead-colour, feet brownish- 

 black, -with a leaden tinge. 



" The female has the upper surface similar to, but 



