PHILIP ISLAND PARROT. Nestor producfjs. 



to imitate the human voice with much accuracy. This is the Southern Nestor, or the 

 Kaka of the natives (Nestor hypopolius). The voice of the Long-billed Parrot is harsh, 

 loud, and very disagreeable, and is said to resemble the continual barking of a hoarse- 

 voiced, ill-tempered cur. While ranging among the trees, these birds fill the woods with 

 their dissonant quacking barks. The eggs of this species are white, and, as is generally 

 the case with the Parrots, are laid in the hollow of a decaying tree. 



The birds which belong to the genus Nestor may at once* be known by their extra- 

 ordinarily long upper mandibles, which curve far over the lower, and remind the observer 

 of the overgrown tooth so common in the rat, rabbit, and other rodent animals. This 

 remarkable structure is very probably for the purpose of enabling the bird to scoop roots 

 and other vegetable substances out of the earth. The length, curve, and shape of the 

 upper mandible differ in the various species. Another peculiarity is that the tips of the 

 tail-feathers are partially denuded of their webs, leaving the shaft to project slightly 

 beyond the feathered portion. Some persons suppose the Long-billed Parrots to form a 

 link between the Parrots and the Cockatoos. 

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