62 



CACATUID.E. 



From Helltiees, Scone, New South Wales, Mr. H. L. White sends me the following note : — 

 " Calyptorliyiuhus fiiiuiiiis K often seen in the higli country, audit is a recognized sign of rain 

 wiien they fly about in the open lower forest. Their well known habit of stripping the bark 

 from newly ring-barked trees, has been frequently observed here. One nest has only been 

 noted, it was in an inaccessible position in a tall dead Stringy-bark tree ; the young left the nest 

 early in January, previous to which they had been fed by the parent birds apparently late in the 

 atternoon only." 



'I'lie late Mr. James 1). Cox wrote me as follows from ISell, Mount Wilson, on the l.ilue 

 Mountains, New South Wales, on the 26th December, 1895: — " .\n unknown incident happened, 

 as far as my knowledge goes, in early spring this year. Flocks of hundreds, or perhaps thousands, 

 of the ^'ellow-tailed Black- Cockatoo ( Calyptoi'liyiuliiis funci'cus) flew low down over the mountains, 

 heading north. C)ccasionally some of the flocks would alight for rest, and blacken the trees with 

 their \'ast numbers, and their united cries made a deafening noise. Previously I had never seen 

 more than about filty or sixty in one tlock. As you know, it has been a remarkably dry season." 



Mr. G. A. Keartland sends me the following note from Melbourne, \'ictoria : — "Whilst 

 Gippsland is the stronghold of the Funereal Cockatoo, it is also to be seen in other places near 

 the south and eastern coasts. I have the skin of a fine female shot from a flock of eight within 

 a mile of Portarlington. In the Dandenong Ranges they frequent the dead timber, and tear off 

 large pieces of bark in order to secure the large white grubs, of which they are very fond. They 

 li\e fairly well in captivity if fed on Sunflower seed. I never saw them on the ground." 



While resident at Hamilton, in Western \'ictoria, 1 >r. W. Macgillivray sent me the 

 following notes : — " Calyptoi'hynchus fiincreui \s found all o\erthe Hamilton district ; a favorite 

 food seems to be the green Sheoak cones, which are cut into bits by this bird for the seeds 

 contained in them ; they also feed on the larva' of some insect found under the bark and in the 

 soft decayed wood of dead wattle trees. They nest late in the year, usually about the last week 

 in Decetnber, or early in January, and choose a hollow in a tall Red Gum for the purpose, and 

 are often noticed frequenting the tree, and going in and out of the hollow, for a month before 

 laying, the same place being often resorted to year after year if unmolested. Two eggs are 

 usually laid and sometimes three, but rarely more than one young one reared. The young when 

 hatched are covered with yellow down, and take a long time to become sufficiently feathered to 

 leave the nest. The birds are in the habit of chipping oil the bark round the mouth of the 

 nesting hollow, which renders it rather conspicuous. When drinking they usually alight a yard 

 or two from the water, and walk down to it, one being always left on guard." 



iVIr. Edwin Ashby writes me from South Australia: — " Calyptoi'hynchiii fnnercus was nesting 

 in tlie Forest Range in 1886, and pairs are usually seen flying over Mount Lofty and Aldgate, 

 but I have seen large flocks at Square Waterhole and at Normanville ; in the latter place they 

 were feeding on the Native Honeysuckle {J:lai:ksia iiiai'giiuitaj. This species is very common in 

 the large timber in the north-western portion of Kangaroo Island, where it breeds. At Cape 

 Otway, in Victoria, I have seen it in flocks of twenty or more." 



Dr. W. A. Angove sends me the following note from Tea-tree Gully, South .Australia: — 

 " CcilyptorliymJius fiincraii \isits us most years, but in decreasing numbers. The birds come to 

 the Honeysuckle when in flower in pairs or in small flocks of three or four. This species nested 

 yearly in Poorest Range, at Fox's Creek, very high in the largest of the Stringy-bark, but has 

 not done so of late years to my knowledge." 



The nesting-place is in the hollow trunk, sometimes in a large hollow bough of a tree, and 

 generally in a Eucalyptus, at a height of about thirty to sixty or seventy feet from the ground. 



