148 



FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



on tail; naked orbital skin -white; beak lead-colour 

 tipped with yellowish ; feet dark lead-colour ; irides dull 

 carmine. Female with beak (seen from above) narrowcT 

 to beyond the middle, but with shorter and broader 

 terminal hook. Hab., Philippine and Sula Islands. 



Mr. J. Whiteheiid (The Ihh. 1899, p. 396) says: 

 " Met with throughout the entire archipelago, but, 

 curiously enough, we never noticed a single Cockatoo in 

 the valley of the Rio Grande. Dm-ing our expedition to 

 the Province of Isabella, the natives told m<t- that this 

 species was not known to them ; and also during my trip 

 to Cape Engano in the north-easit of Luzon, we found it 

 absent. So perhaps this species does net pass the high 

 mountains which divide Luzon at 16 deg. longitude." 

 He does not describe the wEd life of the bird. 



Four specimens of this species were purchased for 

 the London Zoological Gardens in 1865, since which dat« 

 others have been added from time to time. Russ says 

 it becomes very tame, but talks little, and screams 

 horribly ; is one of the rarest in the market and its price 

 is from 75 to 100 marks. 



RoSE-BRE.iSTED CoCK.^TOo [Caccitua rosrkapUla). 



"Crown of the head pale rosy- white ; all the upper 

 surface grey, deepening into brown at the extremity of 

 the wings and tail, and becoming nearly white on the 

 rump and upper tail-coverts; sides of the neck, all the 

 under surface from below the eyes and the imder surface 

 of the shoulders, rich deep rosy-red ; thighs and under 

 tail-coverts grey ; irides. " rich deep rosy-red " ; orbits, 

 brick-red; bill, white; feet nearly dark brown." Ac- 

 cording to Campbell the irides of the male are black. 

 Female with the irides pearl-coloured ; the form of the 

 beak probably diffcais as in the preceding species. Hab., 

 Australia. 



According to Gould the colouring both of the grey 

 and rcs9-red is darker in examples from New South 

 Wales than in those from the Xonth Coast. He sjieaks 

 of this bird as feeding on the plains boivlering the river 

 Xamoi in flocks of from fifty to two hundred individuals. 

 It is istrong on the wing, and the effect of the change 

 of flight .showing first the gi-ev of the backs and then the 

 rose red of the under parts is described as very ibeauti- 

 ful. It breeds in holes in the tall eucalypti, laying three 

 white eggs. 



Campbell (" Nests and Eggs," p. 617) thus describes 

 the nidification : " A'f.s?. — Within a hole in a tree, 

 usually near or iStanding in water. Emif. — Clutch, four 

 to seven, but usually five; round-oval in shape; te-xture 

 of .shell comparativelv fine; surface slightly glos.sy. occa- 

 sionallv with limv nodules ;* colour pure white. Dimen- 

 sions in inches of a pair : (1) 1.4 x 1.04, (2) 1.39 x 1-06 ; 

 of a rounder pair: (1) 1.35 x 1-09, (2) 1.34 x 1.08." 



On page 618 he says : " The nesting places of the 

 Ro'.se-hreasted Cockatoo or Galah are easily found, 

 because' the bark surrounding the hole is peeled off all 

 round tor some distance. Trees near the nest are often 

 similarly marked by the birds. The young are fed by 

 their parents long after the former have quitted their 

 nest.s." 



No Cockatoo is probably imported in greater numbers, 

 or offered at ^o moderate a price, as this one. In 

 Australi.T. where it is popuLirly known by the name of 

 "Galah," it is made much of by sheep-farmers and 

 se'ttlers. who take preat trouble in teaching it to talk. 

 It is frequently allowed partial liberty, and feeds with 

 the poultiw and nio'eons. I am infoi-med that some of 

 the individual birds kept in isolated farms are very 



• Thie is the caise with many ep^cios in which the egg>5 are 

 imuallv i5mfioth : I ha-ve fniind it not infre<inently in eg-ffy of the 

 Europeaji Blackbird.— A. G. B. 



accomplisihed talkeirs, but in. Europe the Roseate 

 Cockatoo is not considered at all gifted in this respect; 

 indeed, although I have at various times stood by the 

 cages of some dozens of examples of this species, I cau 

 honestly atfirni that never yet have I heard anything 

 but the most irritating shrieks from this noisy creature. 

 I thiulv. it probable that those examples which have been 

 taught to talk in this comitry have been Uiken from the 

 nests and hand-reared, for it is not in the least likely 

 that birds caught when adult would ever be teachable, 

 since that is the case with other Cockatoos which are 

 more talented by nature. 



Dr. Ruse speaks of the Rose-breasted Cockatoo with 

 much affection. He admits that it is not a dis:tinguished 

 speaker, nor even tlie most gifted Cockatoo ; but he 

 admires it for its wisdom, drollery, the eaS'S with which 

 it ca!;i be tamed, and its amiability. He .says it will lie 

 on its back and play with a bit of wood or the like, will 

 turn somersaults and do other tricks ; moreover, when, 

 as a jest, he nii>s his master in the ear or nose, he never 

 injures him. According to his admirer, as the bird gets 

 tamer it becomes less objectionable in the matter of 

 shrieking. This is undouibtedly the case with other 

 kinds of Parrots. 



Slendek-billed Cock.\too {Licmelis iiasica). 



White is its pa-evailing colour, the lores and forehead 

 being red, the bases of the feathers on the head, neck, 

 and bi'east being also red, which colouring can be traced 

 through the wliite of the overlapping feathers ; wing 

 and tail below washed with sulphur-yellow ; beak blui^ih- 

 white, the sere and nostrils hidden by little rose-red 

 feathers ; feet blue-grey, the scales and claws blackish j 

 naked skin round eye, pale blue, iris dark to light 

 brown. Fenrale with distinctly shorter, broader, and 

 coai-eer beaik than in the male. Probably the lighter iris 

 will prove also to be a female character. Hab., Aus- 

 tralia, from the Gulf of Carpentaria, through the in- 

 terior to New South Wales and South Australia. 



Mr. Gould says of this species : " Like the Cacalua 

 galerila, it assembles in large flocks, and spends much 

 of the time on the ground, where it grubs up the roots 

 of orchids and other bulbous plants, upon which it 

 mainly subsists, and hence the necessity for its sin- 

 gularly-formed bill. It not infrequently invades the 

 newly-sown fields of corn, where it is the most destruc- 

 tive bird imaginaible. It passes over the ground in a 

 .succession of hops, much more quickly than the Cacatva 

 galerila ; its powers of flight also exceed those of that 

 bird, not perhaps in duration, but in the rapidity with 

 which it pae&es through the air. 



" The eggs, which are white, two in number, and 

 about the size of those of Caealuei gcderita. are usually 

 deposited on a layer of rotten wood at the bottom of 

 holes in the larger gum trees." 



Some years ago I purchased an example of this bird 

 for a sovereign, as its onnier wished to part with it. 

 The bird was particularly amia.ble and gentle, but irri- 

 tating from the fact that it could only say one sentence, 

 which it repeated at short intei-vals throughout the day : 

 this sentence—" Hullo, old Cocky-waxy ! ' '— was alfo not 

 even instructive. When, therefore, at'the end of a week 

 I heard of a lady who wi.shed to purchase it for just 

 double what I had given for it, I naturallv accepted. 

 I heard afterwards that, under the impression that the 

 upper mandible was a monstrous growth, she had it 

 trimmed down to resemble that of other Cockatoos. To 

 my mind it certainly is a vei-y ugly bird, its elongated 

 upper mandible giving it a hideouslv deformed appear- 



