COCKATOOS PIGMY PARROTS. 329 



the following note given by Gould: "The crops and stomachs of those 

 killed were very muscular, and contained seeds, grain, native bread (a species 

 of fungus), small tuberous and bulbous roots, and in most instances large 

 stones. As may be readily imagined, this bird is not regarded with favour by 

 the agriculturist, in whose fields of newly -sown grain and ripening maize 

 it commits the greatest devastation ; it is consequently hunted and shot down 

 wherever it is found, a circumstance which tends much to lessen its numbers. 

 It evinces a decided preference for the open plains and cleared lands, rather 

 than for the dense brushes near the coast ; and, except when feeding or 

 reposing on the trees after a repast, the presence of a flock, which sometimes 

 amounts to thousands, is certain to be indicated by their screaming notes, 

 the discordance of which may be easily conceived by those who have heard 

 the peculiarly loud, piercing, grating scream of the bird in captivity, always 

 remembering the immense increase of din occasioned by the large number of 

 birds emitting their harsh notes at the same moment ; still, I considered this 

 annoyance amply compensated for by their sprightly actions and the life their 

 snowy forms imparted to the dense and never- varying green of the Australian 

 forest a feeling participated in by Sir Thomas Mitchell, who says, * amidst 

 the umbrageous foliage, forming dense masses of shade, the White Cockatoos 

 sported like spirits of light.' The situations chosen for the purpose of 

 nidification vary with the nature of the locality the bird inhabits ; the eggs 

 are usually deposited in the holes of trees, but they are also placed in fissures 

 in rocks wherever they may present a convenient site ; the crevices of the 

 white cliffs bordering the Murray in South Australia, are annually resorted 

 to for this purpose by thousands of this bird, and are said to be completely 

 honeycombed by them. The eggs are two in number, of a pure white and 

 rather pointed at the smaller end." 



This family comprises the majority of the species of the order Psittaci- 

 formes. They differ principally from the Cacatuidce in having the orbital 

 ring generally incomplete, while the head is not crested 

 as in the Cockatoos and their allies. These are small The True 



distinctions, and, as Count Salvadori has pointed out, the Parrots. Family 

 two families above named can scarcely be separated. In Psittacida, 



the family Psittacidce are comprised all the Macaws (Ara), 

 the Conures (Conurus), the Amazons (Chrysotis), the Long-tailed Parrakeets 

 (Palceornis, Platycercus, etc.), as well as the true Parrots (Psittacus). 



Numerous other genera, including the Love-Birds (Psittacula, Agapornis, 

 etc.), likewise belong to this section, and one of the most curious of all is the 

 genus Nasiterna. It consists of some little birds, less than a sparrow in size, 

 inhabiting New Guinea and the neighbouring groups of islands. Their small 

 size renders them difficult of observation, and little has been recorded of 

 their habits. Baron von Rosenberg found the Pigmy Parrot of Mafoor 

 Island in Geelvink Bay (N. maforensis) nesting in holes of trees, the eggs 

 being white, and not larger than those of the Bottle-Tit of Europe. Of the 

 Pigmy Parrot of New Guinea (N. pygmo&a) Dr. Meyer writes : "I got this 

 bird only near the foot of the Arfak Mountains, in New Guinea, where, at 

 Andai, I procured specimens in the middle of the day. There this lovely 

 little Parrot was sleeping on the lower branches of the trees, and could be 

 whipped off with a stick. This is also the case with other Parrots which are 

 allied to the Cacatua group. I may mention Cydopsitta lunulata, from the 

 Philippine Islands, the individuals of which species sleep in the middle of 

 the hot tropical day in rows under the shade of the foliage, when one after 



