Thornton Skinner — Cockatoo-catching in Victoria



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extending in a semicircular direction from the base of the lower

mandible to above the middle of the eye, and is furnished in its whole

length with an operculum (flap). But what is more extraordinary in

this genus is that the entrance to the ear is asymmetrical—the orifice

on one side opening downwards and on the other upwards. This

curious adaptation is carried still further in the genus Nyctala, con¬

taining two or three small species of the Northern Hemisphere, in

which the asymmetry that in Asio is only skin-deep extends, in a

manner very surprising, to several of the bones of the head, as may be

seen in the Zoological Society’s Proceedings (1871, pp. 739-43), and

in the large series of figures given by Messrs. Baird, Brewer, & Ridgeway

( N. Am. Birds, iii, pp. 97-102).”—Newton’s Dictionary of Birds.


The Barn Owl undoubtedly has a call, other than the screech,

which it utters on the wing, and this, though not a true £i Ivi-wik ”,

has something of that character. But does Mr. Coward designate

the Tawny Owl’s “ Ki-wik ” a “ flight call ” from personal observation ?

It may possibly be sometimes uttered in the air during the bird’s

progress from bough to bough ; this is difficult to determine. But

normally it is the call of the female at any season, or of both the female

and young as they sit about in near proximity. Tawny Owls have a

variety of notes. Occasionally in the winter, and always at pairing

time, they hold extraordinary conversations, and indulge in what

appear to be mutual incriminations, and these remarks could not

possibly be syllabled. A night or two since, when several Tawny Owls

only were hooting, I was listening to one who entirely and persistently

dropped the preliminary note and merely uttered one prolonged loud

and level hoot, and this without the tremulo.



COCKATOO-CATCHING IN VICTORIA


By Thornton Skinner


When I was travelling in Australia in the year 1890 for reasons

of health—having been advised to exchange the English winter for

the summer there—I was thrown against a man who had been for

years making his living by catching Cockatoos for the market. We



