l88 Macgillivray, Ornithologists in North Queensland, [^f ^"111 



as it called and walked backwards and forwards along a horizontal 

 branch with erect crest, nodding its head and indulging in a number 

 of evolutions until a mate appeared and perched in an adjacent tree, 

 when they both flew off. 



Mr. M'l^ennan found this bird on the Pascoe, and before our advent 

 he found several nesting-hollows on the Claudie. A large hollow in 

 a tree or stump is usually chosen, the single egg resting on a bed of 

 cut-up sticks. Few were seen on the Archer River. 



Calyptorhynchus, sp. ? (C. hanksii northi ?). — On the 27th June, 

 1914, Mr. M'Lennan noted on the Archer River : — " A flock of about 

 twenty Black Cockatoos {Calyptorhynchus) flew past the camp at 

 sunrise heading towards the coast." 



Cacatua galerita (Cacatoes galerifa qneenslandica). White Cockatoo. 

 — Fairly common, usually flying over or about the tall nesting trees 

 in the scrub. One nesting-hollow containing young birds was in the 

 same tree in which a Grey Goshawk had her nest. Three other nests 

 containing young were found in trees in which Eclectus was also nesting. 

 This bird was not seen feeding on the ground ; it is here a tree feeder, 

 no doubt because of want of opportunitiy, the ground being mostly 

 covered with grass, climbers, and other herbage, even where it is 

 most open. Common also on the Archer River. 



Eclectus pectoralis macgillivrayi. — Every day this splendid Parrot 

 could be seen or heard flying over or past our camp. 



On the 7th November Mr. M'Lennan took us thi^ough the scrub 

 up the river to see a nesting-tree. The female was in possession, 

 with her head looking out of the hollow. She had been in possession 

 for about a month, and had not yet laid. In a near-by tree was the 

 nesting-hollow of another pair, from which Mr. M'Lennan has taken 

 the type set of eggs. On the 9th November we went to our top 

 camp, seven miles further up the river, to investigate two nesting- 

 trees. The birds were at home in each, so we cleared the scrub to 

 enable the rope ladder line to be thrown up next day. The first 

 hollow was 62, feet from the ground, in a large leafless tree with an 

 entrance 2 feet by 8 inches and a depth of 2 feet. Two eggs rested 

 on a bed of chippings from the hollow. These eggs were slightly 

 incubated. 



When we went to the other tree the birds made a great outcry. 

 The hollow was 53 feet up, 2 feet 6 inches deep, with an opening 12 

 inches by 9. The hollow was 2 feet in diameter at the top and 

 20 inches at the bottom ; it contained a hatching egg. One male 

 and three females were in attendance. They were a beautiful sight, 

 the bright green male contrasting with the three red females as they 

 flew screeching round and round over the tree. Down the river from 

 this camp, in a large patch of scrub, was another nesting-tree, a 

 chestnut, with a colony of Shining Starlings and a Grey Goshawk 

 nesting in the same tree. The Eclectus hollow, at a height of 72 feet, 

 was 2 feet 6 inches in depth, and contained two slightly incubated 

 eggs. An Eclectus hollow near our main camp contained two eggs. 

 The males kept flying round the top of the tree uttering their harsh 

 cries, the female only coming occasionally. 



The lowest nest was 45 feet from the ground, with a hollow only 

 I foot deep and an entrance 5 inches by 8 inches. 



In one hollow examined after our return from Raine Island, and 

 from which we had taken a pair of eggs six weeks previously, were 



