CALYFTUKHYN'CHUS. 



03 



The eggs are two in number for a sitting, and \ary from a very rounded oval to a thick 

 o\al, tapering somewhat sharply towards the smaller end, the shell being very finely granulate, 

 and having minute shallow pittings all over them. They are dull white, and usually nest- 

 stained with the decaying wood on which they are laid; some specimens are almost lustreless, others 

 are slightly glossy, rndoubtedly the rounded oval, with only a slight lustre, is the type more 

 often found. A set of two taken by Mr. 11. G. Barnard, at l>uaringa, Oueensland, un the 13th 

 June, 1893, measures : — Length (.\) i-S2 x 1-49 inches; (1!) ry x i-6 inches. A set of two 

 taken on the nth June, 1893, measures: — Length (A) 1-9 x I'^i inches; (B) i-gi x 1-42 

 inches. An incomplete set of one was also received from Mr. Barnard, taken on the ist June, 

 and a full set of two taken on the 9th ]uly, i^^gj. 



A nestling in the Australian Museum Collection, presented by Mr. A. Cape in February, 

 18S1, and taken from a nesting-place in a hollow trunk of a tree at Burrawang, near Moss \ ale. 

 New South Wales, and apparently about a month old, is black above, brownish-black below, 

 with long narrow straw-yellow streamers of filamentous down here and there over the upper 

 parts and Hanks, and thickly disposed on the hind-neck and rump, the duller coloured feathers 

 of the under parts being narrowly fringed with straw-yellow ; ear-coverts dull wax-yellow ; peri- 

 opthalmic region bare, as is also the abdomen and inner portion of the thighs, with the exception 

 of a few scattered pin feathers, ^\'ing 3-6 inches. 



Immature birds have the yellow patch on the ear-coverts smaller than in the adults. 



The breeding season is variable, as will be seen from the preceding notes. ^Ir. Sa\idge 

 obtained eggs in New South Wales in March, and the nestling referred to above was taken in 

 February. In the south-eastern parts of the Central District of Queensland Mr. II. G. Barnard 

 found it breeding in May, June and July, young birds being found early in June. In South- 

 western Oueensland Mr. Brett obtained a young one from a nesting-place on the 26th December. 

 In the Western District of \'ictoria Dr. W. Macgillivray records it breeding in the last week of 

 December or early in January. 



There are only three Tasmanian skins in the Australian Museum Collection, two of which 

 were obtained by Mr. George Masters at the Ouse River in March, 1867, and another at 

 Lachlan\'ale, during the same month. Whether Calyptoi-hynchus xmilhoiiottis, Gould, is a distinct 

 species from the continental form, C. fnncrciis, 1 am unable to tell from the small number of 

 Tasmanian examples. In addition to the slightly smaller size of the latter, they may be 

 distinguished by the broader dull yellow margins to the featiiers of the under parts, and to the 

 under-wing coverts and tips of the under-tail coverts. The yellow band on the tail-feather is 

 also comparatively narrower than in Australian specimens. Total length of skin 24 inches, 

 wing 15 inches. 



From Penguin, Tasmania, Mr. K. X. Atkinson writes me : — " Calyptoyhynchus .xanthonotits 

 occurs throughout Tasmania and some of the larger islands of Bass Strait. I have often seen 

 flocks tearing off pieces of wood, chiefly from Sassafras-trees, containing the larvaj of Coleoptera, 

 their principal food. When travelling long distances they usually fly at a great height from the 

 ground." 



Mr. Malcolm Harrison writes me from Glenorchy, Tasmania : — " Calyptorliynchus xanthonotus 

 is much more generally distributed throughout Tasmania than the W'hite Cockatoo. Parties of 

 from threeor four to seven or eight are more commonly seen, and their advent to the lower country is 

 generally in ad\ance of rough weather. They still frequent the country around Mount Wellington 



