CALijPSIITACU.S. 



97 



Stomachs of these birds examined contained ttie seeds of \arioas L;rasses and herbaceous 

 plants, and ,L;rain of dillerent l<inds, and intermin,L;letl with tiiese a few pieces of gravel. 



The wing-measurement of adult males \aries from fy^ inches to 'vc; inches. Individual 

 \ariation is not uncommon, especially in the colour of the hind-neck, back and scapulars of 

 adult males, varying from greyish-brown to slaty and brownish-black, and there is one tine adult 

 male in the Australian Museum Collection which has the white median co\erts of the wing- 

 patch externallv edged with lemon-yellow. 



i\Ir. Thos. I'. Austin, of Cobborah 

 Station. Cobborah, New South Wales, 

 writes me: — " Cnic/sittiniis nmur-hol- 

 laudicr remains here according to the 

 season, some years a few stay through- 

 out the year, but as a luleit arri\es 

 about the end of August, and usually 

 may be seen in flocks of from four to 

 a dozen. They breed here in great 

 numbers in the dead trees, in which 

 they are rather difficult to see on 

 account of their plumage, being much 

 the same colour as the dead limbs. 

 After the breeding season they return 

 northward in February and March. 

 During the hot weather they cannot 

 go long without water, but always seem 

 to he very much alarmed about remain- 

 ing lonj; at the edge of the water. 

 When coming to drink they fly round a 

 few times, then settle on a tree or fence 

 near by. where they ren^ain for some 

 timebefore leavingtodrink, which they 

 do very quickly, and then fly away." 



These birds were fairly common on 



Cobborah Station during a visit paid 



to Ml. Austin in October, 1909, but 



they were not nearly so numerous 



as I found them at \\'oodside, near 



Coonamble. Although it was the 



breeding season, se\eral small flocks 



were seen about the run, and only one 



nesting-place was examined during 



my stay. It was low down in a limb 



of a small dead tree, about fifteen feet 



from the ground, and on the iSth October Mr. Austin, from a hole cut in the limb, extracted four 



slightly incubated eggs, which were deposited as usual on the decaying wood. The accompanying 



block is reproduced from a photograph taken by me of this nesting-place. 



Mr. K. Grant, Taxidermist, Australian Museum, has given me the following notes :—" I 

 found the Cockatoo-Parrakeets plentiful at Narromine, New South Wales, in November, 1S83. 

 They were usually met with in pairs all along the Macquarie River, but sometimes in the early 

 morning they would assemble in flocks of about thirty or forty, and when on the wing their 



•J5 



TAKINO THE EGGS OF A COCKATUO-PARRAKEET. 



