INSESSORES. 23 



heavy and laboured, and while on the wing it presents a very 

 remarkable appearance, its short neck, rounded head, and 

 long wings and tail giving it a very singular contour. It is 

 generally to be observed in companies of from four to ten in 

 number, but occasionally in pairs only. I found it very shy 

 and difficult of approach, which may perhaps be attributed to 

 its being wantonly shot wherever it may be met with. 



Its principal food is a large kind of caterpillar, which it 

 obtains from the .wattle- and gum-trees, and in procuring 

 which it displays the greatest activity and perseverance, 

 scooping off the bark and cutting through the thickest branch 

 until it arrives at the object of its search ; it is in fact sur- 

 prising to see what enormous excavations it makes in the 

 larger branches, and how expertly it cuts across the smaller 

 ones : besides these large caterpillars, it also feeds upon the 

 larvae of several kinds of coleopterous insects, and occasionally 

 on the seeds of the Banksias and berries ; chrysalides were 

 also found in the stomachs of some that were dissected. 



I found it exceedingly difficult to obtain any particulars 

 respecting the nidification of this bird, in consequence of its 

 resorting for the performance of this duty to the most retired 

 and inaccessible parts of the forests. Lieut. Breton, R.N., 

 having informed me that a pair were breeding in a tree on 

 the estate of Mr. Wettenhall, I requested him to use his in- 

 fluence with that gentleman to have their eggs procured for 

 me ; and on the 2nd of February 1839, 1 received a note from 

 him, in which he says : — 



" In compliance with your request, I wrote to Mr. Wetten- 

 hall upon the subject of the Black Cockatoo's nest, and he 

 forthwith directed his shepherd to fell the tree in which the 

 bird had established itself. It was situated in a gulley or 

 bottom, and was about four feet and a half in diameter. The 

 hole was from ninety to one hundred feet from the ground, 

 two feet in depth, and made quite smooth, the heart of the 

 tree being decayed. There was no appearance whatever of a 



