COCKATOOS. 105 



this bird is found; and the manner in whicli it gets at these seeds shows a 

 correlation of structure and habits, which would point out the kanar}^ as its special 

 food. The shell of this nut is so excessively hard that only a heavy hammer will 

 crack it ; it is somewJiat triangular, and the outside is quite smooth. The manner 

 in which the bird opens these nuts is very curious. Taking one endways in its 

 bill, and keeping it iirm by a pressure of the tongue, it cuts a transverse notcli by 

 a lateral sawing motion of the sharp-edged lower mandible. This done, it takes 

 hold of the nut with its foot, and, biting oti' a piece of leaf, retains it in the deep 

 notch of the upper mandible, and, again seizing the nut, which is prevented from 

 slipping by the elastic tissue of the leaf, fixes the edge of tlie lower mandible in 

 the notch, and by a powerful nip breaks oft' a piece of the shell. Again taking the 

 nut in its claws, it inserts the very long and sharp point of the bill and picks out 

 the kernel, which is seized hold of, morsel by morsel, by the extensile tongue. 

 Thus every detail of form and structure in the extraordinary bill of this bird 

 seems to have its use, and we may easily conceive that the black cockatoos have 

 maintained themselves in competition with their more active and more numerous 

 white allies by their power of existing on a kind of food which no other bird is 

 able to extract from its stony shell." Dr. Guillemard adds that in New Guinea it 

 is extrem.ely difficult to obtain these birds alive, and that when in captivity their 

 movements are slow and clumsy in the extreme. Moreover, as the pectoral muscles 

 are small and meagre, when compared to the enormous head and beak, it is probable 

 that these cockatoos resort to flight as seldom as possible. 



Raven- Under the general name of raven-cockatoos may be included a 



Cockatoos, grouj^ of seven species, which, while agreeing with the last in their 

 black or brown coloration, are distinguished by their completely-feathered cheeks, 

 the more ordinary form of the beak, and the shorter and broader feathers of the 

 chest. Of this group the Banksian cockatoo {CalyptorhynchuH hanksi), represented 

 in the upper portion of our plate, may be taken as a well-known example. In all 

 these birds the tail-feathers are rather long, with the middle ones shorter than 

 those on the sides, and they are crossed by a light-coloured transverse band. The 

 beak is characterised by its shortness and depth, and its highly-curved profile. 

 The whole seven species are confined to Australia. The Banksian cockatoo 

 belongs to a group of four species in which there is no light-coloured patch 

 on the ear-coverts ; while in the adult males the band on the tail is red, 

 although more or less tinged with yellow in the young and perhaps in females 

 of all ages. On the other hand, in the second group, of which the funereal 

 cockatoo (C. funereus) is a well-known representative, the ear-coverts are marked 

 by a yellow or white patch, while the tail-band is of one of these two tints at all 

 ages. The Banksian cockatoo, which measures 24 inches in total length, has 

 the general colour of a greenish black, with a vermilion tail-band. It is confined 

 to Eastern Australia. Writing of a South Australian species (C. xantlioiiotus) 

 belonging to the group with a yellow tail-l)and, tl)o " Old Bushman " observes that 

 it " was common in our forests from about December, wlien the old and young 

 birds came down from their breeding-places, and remained Avith us during the 

 winter. They did not breed in our neighbourhood [near Port Phillip] ; but I think 

 they went to nest very early, for I once shot a female in May with a large egg in 



