()6 



CACATUIU.E. 



of the latter trees, on one occasion, there must have been thirty or forty of them feeding at one 

 time, and I shot sixteen of them without moving from the tree. They icept coming and going 

 all day long, and did not seem to take much notice of the report of the gun, or of their companions 



falling dead or wounded out ot the tree, 

 and 1 could have shot all without any 

 trouble, but they were moulting and not 

 fit for specimens. Those 1 obtained were 

 recjuired for the pot, and their flesh is 

 delicious, and I much prefer it to either 

 Takgallus or Mc^apodius. The contents 

 of the crops of all 1 skinned consisted of 

 seeds, berries and caterpillars. Their 

 brightly coloured tail feathers are much 

 prized by the .Vborigines. Those that 

 were with me took one of the red ones 

 from the male, and alternately a red and 

 yellow barred one from a female, until 

 they had made a plaited head-band of 

 about eight feathers, and then wore this 

 as a head dress." 



Mr. George Savidge sends me the 

 following notes from Copmanhurst, 

 Clarence River, New South Wales: — 

 " Calyptoi'hvnchns hanksi is very sparingly 

 dispersed throughout the Clarence River 

 District. I have usually met with it in 

 twos or threes and small llocks, but 

 during the winter of 190S I counted one 

 flock containing about twenty-five or 

 thirty birds. They were feeding on some 

 ICucalyptus in flower, biting large pieces 

 of the branches off with their powerful 

 bills, the ground being strewn with them, 

 and it reminded me of a great storm, 

 when trees are dashed about in all 

 directions. I watched them upon several 

 Dccasions, and satisfied myself they were 

 not breeding ; they seemed cautious and 

 shy, and would have been difficult to 

 shoot. Upon one occasion only have we 

 been able to procure the egg ; it was on 

 the 13th May, igoo, the nesting-place 

 being in the main branch of a large dead 

 I'^ucalyptus, about seventy feet from the 

 ground, and my son Clarence climbed the 

 tree with the aid of a rope ladder. He 

 had some difficulty in getting at the egg, as it was about four feet down a hole in the tree, and he 

 could not reach it ; the egg rested on a few green Gum leaves. Searching round a neighbour's 

 fence I found a piece of wire, and with a handkerchief a scoop was made and the egg brought 







IJKAI) TRKE TIUINK USKl) A.S A NESTING-PI.ACE liV )1ANK S 

 BLACK COCKATOO. 



