88 CACATIII)^. 



Some time ao;o I saw a large consi,£;nment of birds at Spencer-street Station, ^lelbourne, which 

 differed much in size, and the larger birds seemed to have a little more red on them than tlie 

 others." 



From rVoome Hill, South-western Australia, Mr. Tom Carter sends me the following 

 notes: — " Ccu-atiia ,i:;viiu!ifis is the commonest species of Cockatoo in North-western Australia, 

 being seen in \ast flocks about the end of October, when the young birds are fledged. 1 do not 

 recollect having n(jted them further south than the Wooramel Kiver, but in the White (ium 

 trees lining the great river beds of the Gascoyne, Lyons and Ashburton Rivers, and all the 

 tributaries and creeks of these rivers, they are very abundant, and apparently increasing in 

 numbers, as the .Aborigines, who formerly took great ([uantities of young birds from the nests to 

 eat, do not trouble much about them now, as they are regularly employed and fed on the stations. 

 At the Yardie Creek, and other deep gorges of the north-western Cape Ranges, many of these 

 i)irds bred in security in fissures in the precipitous cliffs, there being no large timber there with 

 hollow spouts. On parts of the coast near the Ashburton River, many ot the large Red Mangrox e 

 trees, which contained hollow places, were used as nesting places. On the inland country, east 

 of Point Cloates, which is quite destitute of any timber, I have seen eggs laid in the hollow 

 bioken tops of the large white-ant hills, which are there in thousands, from twelve to fifteen feet 

 in height in some cases. The eggs are laid irrespective of its being a wet or dry season, from 

 about the 25th August to tlie 22nd September, and the clutch is two or three. These birds are 

 xery hardy in captixity, easily tamed, and the majority, if taken young Irom the nest, talk very 

 readily and well." 



The eggs are usually three in number for a sitting, oval or elongated oval in form, pure 

 white, the shell being close-grained, comparatively smooth, and the surface slightly lustrous; 

 when examined with a lens numerous small pittings are revealed, which are otherwise invisible. 

 A set of three taken by Dr. \V. Macgillivray, at Valcowinna Creek, thirty-fi\e miles north of 

 Broken Hill, South-western New South Wales, on the (;th September. 1907, measures: — 

 Length (A) f55 x i-ig inches; (B) fh x 1-15 inches; (C) i'65 x fiC) inches. .A set of three 

 taken in the saine locality on the 24th September, iqn.S, from a holluw in a C.oolibah Gum, 

 about twenty feet up, while in company with Mr. William McLennan, measures : —Length (A) 

 1-62 X 1-14 inches; (B) 1-58 x i-ii inches; (C) i'74 x 1-12 inches. 



\'oung birds resemble the adults, but have only the lores stained \vith red, and no rosy bases 

 to the feathers of the head. 



.August to October constitutes the usual breeding season in North-western .Australia and 

 Western New South Wales. In Northern .Australia it is usually in the early part of the year, 

 February to May. 



Cacatua roseicapilla. 



ROSE-BREASTED COCKATOO. 



Cao/na mirica/n'/n, Vieill., Nouv. Diot. d'Hist., ton). XV[[., p. 1 -' (1S17) .• (ioukl, Haiulhk. Bds. 

 Austr., Vol. II., p. 8(l,SG.^i); Sulvad., Cat. Bd.s. Brit. Mu.s., Vol. XX., p. 1:V2(1S91); Sharpc, 

 Hand-l. Bd.s., Vol. IT., p. 11 (1900); Salvad., Ibis, 1906, p. 1:U. 



Caratna ros, Gould, Bds. Austr., fol. Vol. V., pi. 4 (1848). 



Adui.T MALR. — ^li'tieral cahmr aliix-e yrt't/ia/i-hrdirn, /uis.siiii/ iii/n piilf i/ri'ii'nili-irli iff mi flir rmii/i 

 and iipper lail-corerts ; /i'iti(/n like lht>. hack, iiwl ln'cuiiiuiy n ilarker hrmrii foiran/s f/w fi/is nf iIip. 

 qicilh, the oiifp.r serii's of tlie iin'iliaii and greater inny-caverts (ireijinh-irliite ; tail-feiitliers ijreij, 

 hroivncr iiriiund tlieir tips : croivn of t/n' head rosy-tvhite, the liasalpurtlon nf tlie fentliers rnsij-reif 

 tlie tares and fureliead irashed ?inth rosij-red: a collur mi tlie hi iiifiieelc, sides nf the neck, chill, cheeks 



