352 NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



those of the kakapo. It has an txtraonlinarily large head. Pezoporiia fortnosus 

 ocfupics the same regions as GeujtsitUicus, and extends across to Tasmania. It has 

 longer wings, the second and third quills being the longest. 



The cockatoos, forming the family Puctolophid.e, are mostly confined to the 

 East Indian Archipelago, Papua, and Australia. One of the most striking features is 

 the crown of erectile feathers on the heads of most of the species. When quiet these 

 are usually but little consj)icuous ; but when something excites the bird, up they are 

 raised, completely changing the wliole asj)ect of their ])ossessor. The beak is strong, 

 about as high as long, its ujiper half usually flattened or keeled, or, rarely, rounded 

 above. Its cutting edge is excavated behind the point. The cere may be naked or 

 feathered. The wings are long and ]iointed, and, when at rest, they cover half or 

 more than half of the tail. The tail may he either short or long, and its extremity 

 straight or rounded ; never graduated or wedge-shajied. 



The prevailing color of the plumage is white, black, or brown. The latter color 

 occurs in Nestor. White is found as a jiredominant color in no other family, while 

 black exists only in C/MlcopsiltucKS (one of the lories), and in Coracopsis (one of the 

 gray parrots). The females are colored like the males, but are recognizable from their 

 smaller size and shorter crown feathei-s. All are large forms, none being smaller than 

 doves. The common name, cockatoo, is a good phonetic reproduction of the common 

 note of many of the sj)ecies. 



In their habits they are very social. Not only at the breeding season, but at all 

 times of the year, they form great flocks, usurdly living in the tops of the highest trees 

 of their trojiical homes. Their nests are built in hollow trees, or in clefts of the high, 

 rocky cliffs. They are vegetarians, and are especially fond of grain and fruits. Still, 

 exceptions in this respect are to be noticed. Lianetis lives on roots and bulbs which 

 it digs from the earth, while ('(ili/ji/or/ii/ncliiis, with its strong beak, tears the bark 

 and excavates the rotten wood of decayed trees in its search for insects and larvie. 

 Nestor, again, forms an excejition which will be noticed below. 



The family of cockatoos embraces thirty-two species, arranged in five genera. 

 Apparently the extinct Lophojysittacus matiritanicus also belongs to the same family, 

 although in some respects it is allied to the American genus Sittace. 



All of the species of Nestor, except one from Papua, belong to the New Zealand 

 fauna. They arc the most aberrant members of the family, and in several respects 

 differ from the diagnosis given above. They lack the long crown feathers of the 

 others, h.ave a tail only lialf as long as the wings, its extremity straight, an elongate 

 bill, the up]>er half of which frequently extends quite a distance beyoii<l the lower. 

 Indeed, the whole facies of these birds is such that they are frequently arranged in the 

 family Trichoglossidae. 



Ilalf-way between New Zealand and New Caledonia are two small islands, Norfolk 

 and Philip. On the latter is (or, rather, was) found the Pliilij) Islaml parrot, Nestor 

 productus. This small island has an area of only about live square miles, and only here 

 occurred this species. Though Norfolk Island is distant but four miles, this parrot 

 lias never been found there. With this extremely restricted distribution it is no 

 wonder that it h.'is now become extinct. It was fond of soft, succident vegetables, 

 and was said, by the aid of its lonij hooked beak, to dig roots from the earth. Still, 

 like all the genus, it was fond of honey and the nectar of flowers. In color it was brown 

 above, red below, breast, throat, and cheeks yellow. Tlie Norfolk Island ])arrot, N. 

 nor/okensis, a similar species, with the top of the head green, is also said to be exthict. 



