272 A LONG RAMBLE IN QUEENSLAND 



met with on land than in the water. I have found specimens 

 at a very great distance from water or moist ground. 



I cannot attempt to describe the mammals and birds 

 of this district, there is such a multitude of species. Nearly 

 all the species found in New South Wales, and most of 

 those of Western Australia, are more or less common here. 

 Cockatoos and parrots swarm, the common lemon- 

 crested {Cacatua galerita), the slender-billed (Lichmetis 

 nasica), and the red-breasted {Cacatua roseicapilla) being 

 among the most abundant in the Mitchell's River district. 

 Here also we shot several of the remarkably coloured, 

 blood-stained cockatoo {Cacatua sanguined). The black 

 cockatoo of this district {Microglossus aterrimus) is a 

 different species to the birds of this colour found on other 

 parts of the continent, and is by far the largest bird of 

 the parrot genus found in Australia, Its formidable, sharp- 

 pointed beak measures more than three inches along the 

 curve, and it is dangerous to pick up a slightly wounded 

 bird, as the wound it inflicts is a deep and clean cut as 

 that of a knife. 



This cockatoo, which is not so deep a black in colour 

 as some others of the genus, having a greyish tinge on a 

 great part of the plumage, is much larger than the scarlet 

 macaw. It is a comparatively scarce bird, and never 

 collects in large flocks like other cockatoos, about a 

 dozen being the greatest number I have ever seen together ; 

 more often the groups contain five or six birds only, 

 while pairs, and single birds are frequently met with. It 

 is a solitude-loving, forest-haunting species, only rarely 

 visiting the open plains, and always exceedingly shy of 

 the approach of man. 



The remarkable length, strength, and fineness of point 

 of the beak, have attracted the attention and conjectures 

 of naturalists ever since the bird has been known, and Dr 

 Wallace has given an elaborate description of its special 

 use in enabling the cockatoo to extract the kernel of the 

 canary-nut. This description is ingenious, but will not 

 hold good for the Australian bird, in which country, so 

 far as I have been able to discover, the canary-nut 



