COCKATOOS. 



149 



ance. The Corella. as it is called in Australia, is toler- 

 ably freely inij>orted', and not excessively dear. 



Ill captivity (lould speaks of this bird as dull, morose, 

 and irritiible. Most of those that I have seen looked 

 just about as interesting; and stupid as O.yls. Russ 

 evidently thinks well of the siiecies ; he says that usually 

 it only " learns single words, but some examples are 

 extraordinarilv g-ifted with .speech. Captured when 

 adult, they are ob.^tinate. difficult to tame, easily dis- . 

 txirbed. yet not really malicious, sometimes frightful 

 ecreechers. Taken young they are altogether tame and 

 trustful. He then speaks of a tame pair which u.se<l to 

 accompany their master on his walks, flying from tree 

 to tree, but coming to him when called, and allowing 

 him to caress them. The male, being pursued by a 

 Hawk, flew spirally so high that it could no longer be 

 seen, and escajjed its himter. 



There is not the least doubt that the sulkiness and 

 JU-temper frecuiently noticeable in s,pecimens of this 

 ppecies is due to their having been netted when adult. 



Campbell givev'; the number of eggs to a clutch as on© 

 to four, but u.sually two to three. As will be seen, this 

 differs a little from Gould's statement. 



D.\Mi'iF,R Cockatoo* {Licmctis paslhmlor). 



A little larger than the common Slender-billed 

 Cockatoo, the naked orbital space larger and darker, 

 of a bluish lead-colour. The female probably differs 

 from the male as in the preceding species. Hab., 

 Western Australia. 



Both Gould and Salvador! agree that the characters 

 which distinguish the two Slender-billed species are far 

 more apparent in livi'ng examples than in the dry skins. 



Mr. A. J. Campbell observes (" Nests and Eggs," pp. 

 620, 621) : " This species is probably the oldest-known 

 Australian CV)ckatoo, for when the navigator Dampier. 

 in August, 1699. was off the western coast, he saw birds 

 flying fi-oin the mainland over to islands which form 

 the archipelago now bearing his name, and recoi-ded 

 there was a ' sort of white Parrot which flew a great 

 many together.' A correspondent on the western coa.^t 

 inform.s m« the Cockatoos still tly 'a great many to- 

 gether' in August and September to breed on the 

 islands, where they nest in the holes and crevices of 

 ro?ks. However, in the season of 1891. on account of 

 the prevailing drought, they did not visit the islands as 

 usual. Near Point Cloates. the Western Long-bills are 

 said by the natives to breed in numbers in the cliffs on 

 the sea-coast, where a water-hole is situated. Mr. Tom 

 Carter has obeeiTed birds parsing over from inland to- 

 wards that direction. He al.s.o states they breed in 

 numbers in the hollow stems of mangrove trees on the 

 islands in Esmouth Gulf. 



" The first authenticated eggs of this species were three 

 in number, taken by Mr. Carter on September 22, 1888. 

 from the hollow spout of a gum tree on the Minilga 

 Kivcr." 



The eggs are thus described : " Clutch, three to four; 

 oval or round-oval in shape ; texture of shell compara- 

 tively fine, surface glossy ; colour, pure white, more or 

 less stained with the dust of the nest. Dimensicns in 

 inches of a pair : (1) 1.63 x 1.15, (2) 1.52 x 1.14." 



Fimt presented to the London Zoological Oardens in 

 1858, since which time a fair number of specimens has 

 been exhibited there. 



* In the Zoological Soci^y's Jist this ii3 called the Western 

 Slender-billed Cockatoo, and I adopted that name in " How to 

 Sex Cago-birdis." but the Auetraliau name ifi eharter and there- 

 fore preferable. 



CoCK.\TF,EL * {Calopsittactii novii-lioUandiin). 

 General colour of upper surface deep ash-grey, below 

 slightly paler; a broad curved belt of white runs from 

 the shouldere over the gi-eater 'wing-coverts ; the face 

 and crest of the cock bird are bright lemon-yellow, a 

 large orange patch being placed on the cheek behind 

 the eye. In the hen the face is greyi.sh, but still with 

 a slight yellowish tint, and the orange pateh is duller. 

 The under surface of the tail in the cock is black, but 



The Cock.^tkel. 



in the hen it is mottled and banded with yellow, and the 

 upper side of the tail in this .sex has also a faint banded 

 appearance ; the legs and beak are grey, and the iris 

 of the eye is hazel. Hab., Australia generally. 



Gould" says of this species ("Handbook," Vol. II., 

 pp. 84. 85)": •■ It would appeal- to he more numerous 

 in the eastern division of Austr;ilia than in the western. 

 During the summer of 1839 it was breeding in all the 

 apple-tree [Anqophora) flats on the Upper Hunter, as 



* The niame ia msually iS'pelt " Ckickatiol," but I have followed 

 the more natural spelling adopted by the Zoological Society. 



