56



An ancient Cockatoo.



I have thought it best to give a complete history of the birds down to

the present time, and for the power to do so, I am indebted to the

kindness of Mr. R. Fielding, the intelligent surgeon of the place

where the fact occurred. It is strange that a second brood should

have been hatched so late in the year as November; even in birds of

our own climate, this would have been considered an extraordinary

circumstance, but how much more so in the transplanted inhabitant

of a tropical climate. The natural number of eggs appears to be

three, though in the instance to which I have alluded at the

beginning of this notice, seven are mentioned as the number. It is

probable that this mention of the fact of the Grey Parrot breeding in

this country may induce others, who have had opportunities of noting

similar instances, to give the result of their observations to the pages

of the ‘ Zoologist,” which journal may be considered a scrap-book,

and this must be my apology for sending to its pages the above rough

and imperfect contribution to the history and habits of the Grey

Parrot. —Beverley R. Morris, M.D., York, August 26th, 1844.”


I came across the above interesting record on p. 725 of the

second volume of the ‘ Zoologist,’ published in 1844. It is possible

that this curious account of the breeding of the Grey Parrot in

captivity will be overlooked in the future, as there cannot be very

many copies of the large volume of the ‘ Zoologist ” in our libraries ;

I therefore thought it well to bring this record into the light of the

present day. The pair of Grey Parrots must have been remarkably

tame to sit on eggs in a copper vessel placed near a fire, probably in

a kitchen, and to have brought off and reared two fine young birds.


W. H. Workman.



AN ANCIENT COCKATOO.


‘Country Life’ of November 11th publishes a photograph

of “ The oldest inhabitant of Sydney,” a White Cockatoo, which died

last May at the age of 119 years. The photograph looks like some

weird reptile with a few bedraggled feathers sparsely scattered over

its body. The upper mandible (why was it not clipped?) is enor¬

mously elongated, almost touching the bird’s breast. It was hardly

kind to permit this poor old rag-bag to live so long.



