140 



FOEEIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



-season, when it is only to be seen in pairs. Its food is 

 much varied ; sometimes the great belts of Banksias are 

 visited and the seed-covers torn open for the sake of 

 their contents ; while at others it searches with avidity 

 for the larvae of the large caterpillars which are de- 

 posited in the wattles and gums. Its flight, as might 

 be expected, is very heavy, flapping, and laboured, but 

 it sometimes dives aibout between the trees in a most 

 rapid and extraordinary manner. 



'' When busily engaged in scooping off the bark in 

 search of its insect food, it may foe approached very 

 closely ; and if one be shot the remainder of the com- 

 pany will fly round for a short distance and perch on 

 the neighbouring trees, until the whole are brought 

 down, if you are desirous of so doing. 



" Its note is very singular -a kind of whining call, 

 which it is impossible to describe, but which somewhat 

 resembles the syllables W-y-la, whence the native name 1 . 



" The eggs, which are white and two in number, about 

 Ifin. long by l|in. broad, are deposited on the rotten 

 wood in the hollow branch of a large gum." 



Mr. Campbell (''Nests and Eggs," p. 604) quotes the 

 following note by Mr. A. E. Brent : " For about three 

 weeks, when the female is sitting, I discovered that the 

 male would go to the nest three times a day at morn, 

 neon, and night. and was most regular. I would find 

 myself standing, watch in hand, looking for him, regu- 

 larly every day for several days, and found 'that his 

 times never varied more than seven minutes. To ascer- 

 tain his reasons I went to the nest at night, and crept, 

 without disturbing the sitting bird, to a spot from where 

 I could see all that went on, and waited. After some 

 time the old bird's cry would be heard in the distance, 

 and at the same time the female's head would appear 

 at the hole, and she would answer him with a small 

 stream, a r nd would repeat in answer to him as he drew 

 near. As soon as he appeared in sight she would fly 

 out and settle on a dry branch, meeting him there, and 

 after the usual greeting he would sit and feed her for 

 fully ten minutes, just as if she had been a young 'bird. 

 After this she would sit and preen her feathers for a 

 time, and' the'n return to the nest, always entering the 

 hole tail first. This performance I witnessed for several 

 days." 



First acquired for the Regent's Park collection in 

 1879, and subsequently in 1883 ; in 1880 Miss Hagenbeck 

 exhibited a specimen at the " Ornis " Exhibition, in 

 Berlin. 



BANKS' COCKATOO (Calyptorhynckus banksii). 



Glossy greenish-black ; tail, excepting the two central 

 feathers, crossed by a broad crimson belt; external 

 feather with the outer web, and all the other belted 

 feathers with the outer margin, black; crest long; 

 beak leaden grey to greyish-black ; feet mealy black- 

 brown; irides pale to black-brown. Female with the 

 head and upper wing-coverts spotted and the under 

 surface irregularly barred with yellow, which becomes 

 redder on under tail-coverts ; the red belt on the tail 

 varied with irregular black bars, changing to sulphur- 

 yellow on the inner margins of the feathers and into 

 yellowish-red on under surface. Hab., " Eastern Aus- 

 tralia, from Port Denison to New South Wales and 

 Victoria." (Salvadori.) 



Gould says of this species f" Handbook," Vol. II., 

 p. 14) : " It is not infrequently seen in the imme- 

 diate neighbourhood of Sydney and other large towns, 

 and it alike frequents the brushes and the more open 

 wooded parts of the colony, where it feeds on the 

 seeds of the Banlcsice, and Casuarince, but occasionally 



changes its diet to caterpillars, particularly those that 

 infest the wattles and other low trees. The facility with 

 which it procures these large grubs is no less remark- 

 able than the structure of the bird's bill, which is 

 admirably adapted for scooping out the wood of both 

 the larger and smaller branches, and by this means 

 obtaining possession of the hidden treasure within. 



" The Banksian Cockatoo is a suspicious and shy 

 bird, and a considerable degree of caution is required 

 to approach it within gunshot; there are times, how- 

 ever, particularly when it is feeding, when this may be 

 more readily accomplished. It never assembles in large 

 flocks like the White Cockatoo, but moves about_ either 

 in pairs or in small companies of from four to eight in 

 number. Its flight is heavy, and the wings are moved 

 with a flapping, laboured motion ; it seldom mounts 

 high in the air, for although its flight is somewhat 

 protracted, and journeys of several miles are performed, 

 it rarely rises higher than is sufficient to surmount the 

 tops of the lofty 'Eucalypti, a tribe of trees it often 

 frequents, and in the larger kinds of which it almost 

 invariably breeds, depositing its two or three white 

 eggs in some inaccessible hole, spout, or dead limb, the 

 only nest being the rotten wood at the bottom, or the 

 chips made by the bird in forming an excavation." 



The London Zoological Society first purchased this 

 Cockatoo in 1862, since which time several other 

 examples have been exhibited at the Gardens. Rues 

 speaks of it as " very rare," and yet I think it has 

 been more often owned ,a'nd exhibited by private 

 aviculturists in England than any of the other black 

 species. Mr. C. A. Edwardg's b'ird is a well-known 

 prize-winner, and in 1907 a pair were exhibited by Sir C. 

 Lawes Wittewronge, Bart. 



GREAT-BILLED BLACK COCKATOO 



(C'alyjrtorJiynchus macrorhynchus) . 



Both sexes are very similar to the preceding species, 

 but have a much heavier beak, shorter wings, and the 

 female has yellow and scarlet mixed on the tail-belt. 

 Hab., "Northern Australia, from Derby to Rockingham 

 Bay." i( Salvadori.) 



Count Salvadori was rather doubtful as to the dis- 

 tinctness of this species from the Banksian Cockatoo. 



Campbell says (" Nest and Eggs, p. 608) : 

 " Amongst the mountains and hills near our camp at 

 Cardwell were some of these fine Cockatoos, at least, 

 we took them to be the variety at present under con- 

 sideration. They were exceedingly shy, and we only 

 procured a pair." 



" When exploring in the far north, Mr. O'Donnell 

 flushed a Black Cockatoo from its nest in a hollow 

 tree. The bird was most probably this Great-billed 

 species." 



It is uncertain whether this species has been im- 

 ported, but it is quite likely to have been confounded 

 with Banks' Cockatoo. I include it on the strength of 

 a note by Mr. Seth-Smith in The Aviailtural 

 Magazine, Second Series, Vol. II., p. 136. 



WESTERN BLACK COCKATOO (Calyptorkynrhus stdlatu*}- 



Differs from the preceding in its smaller and more 

 arched beak, shorter and more rounded crest and 

 shorter tail. According to Gould " the male has the 

 entire plumage glossy greenish-black ; lateral tail- 

 feathers, except the external web of the outer one, 

 crossed, by a broad band of fine scarlet ; irides dark 

 blackish-brown ; bill bluish lead-colour, feet brownish- 

 black, with a leaden tinge. 



" The female has the upper surface similar to, but 



