158 Keartlani), specific Name of Cacattia aavguinea. [vo^'jcxxi. 



ON THE SPFXIFIC NAME OF THE BLOOD-STAINED 

 COCKATOO, CACATUA SANGUINHA, C,ld. 

 By G. a. Khartland. 

 {Read before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, 14th Dec, 1914.) 

 Whilst some ornitliolot^ists have spent much time and care 

 in the study of our avifaima in (Jider to avoid the unnecessary 

 and erroneous multipUcation ol' species, others have gone to 

 the opposite extreme, and, where a shght change in plumage 

 has occurred, have at once proclaimed a new species, without 

 ])ausing to see whether the variation was sustained. 



Take, for instance, Gould's Finch, PoepJiila mirahilis. Some 

 ha\e black heads, whilst in others the head is scarlet or \^ellow. 

 These have been recently separated into three species, although 

 they may all be seen mingled in one flock, and have been 

 bred together in captivity. In one case within my own 

 knowledge a pair of black-headed birds produced four young 

 ones, two of which had scarlet heads when they M'ere about 

 six months old and had acquired their mature plumage, whilst 

 the other pair resembled their parents. It is with a view of 

 checking this confusion that I am writing these lines. 



In consequence of the division of the Blood-stained Cockatoo, 

 Cacatua sanguinea, (iould, into two species by Dr. Sclater — 

 the second under the name of C. gyimiopis — several orni- 

 thologists have followed suit. This appears to be the result 

 of working from insufficient material, as the main points relied 

 on for the separation are the bare skin round the eye and a 

 slight variation in size. In Hall's " Key to the Birds of Aus- 

 tralia and Tasmania" C. sanguinea is described as having 

 the naked skin round the eye white and nearly circular, whilst 

 C. gymnopis is said to have the bare skin blue and largely 

 extending into an open space below. This species is also said 

 to be slightly larger than the foregoing. The measurements 

 given are : — C. sanguinea — total length 14 inches, wing 

 10 inches ; C. gymnopis — length 16 inches, wing 11 inches. 

 The vernacular name of " Bare-eyed Cockatoo " is even more 

 confusing, as it applies with equal force to at least four species 

 — viz.. Long-billed Cockatoo (Corella), Licmetis nasica. Western 

 Long-billed Cockatoo, L. paslinator. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, 

 Cacatua galcrita, and the Blood-stained Cockatoo, C. sanguinea, 

 all of which have bare skin round the eye. 



In " Nests and Eggs of Birds Found Breeding in Australia 

 and Tasmania," Mr. North states that he has examined 

 thousands of living birds and skins of this species from various 

 parts of Australia without finding one with the white skin 

 round the eye, but that in every case it was bluish-grey. 

 However, he quotes a field note from Dr. W. Macgillivray, of 

 Broken Hill, in whicli that gentleman states that he has seen 



