212 Catching Sulphur- Crested Cockatoos.


or more, and their boles are bulky, smooth, and usually branch-

less for the first thirty or forty feet. The living trees are often

hollow or have a hollow broken limb, while the dead trees are

usually hollow nearly all over. The Cockatoo is not particular

whether the hollow is in a live or a dead tree, so long as the tree

is big and unclimbable in the ordinary way and is not too near a

house. The more inaccessible the hollow is the better the bird

likes it, as I have found to my cost when in search of a nest.

This is a very simple affair, and is usually placed some four or

five feet from the outlet — just too far away for one to reach it

with the hand. There the Cockatoo lays usually two, sometimes

one, but occasionally three large white eggs.


It is at this time that the Cockatoo hunter looks for the

nests. The birds, however, are very shy and cunning. They

will never go into the nest while anyone is about, and, if one

is approaching a clump of trees containing nests, an old cock-

bird standing sentinel on the top of the tallest tree will give the

alarm call, and instantly every hen-bird will slip out of the nest-

ing holes, without a sound, before one is close enough to locate

them. Where there are solitary nests a plan to find them, which

is often practised, is to ride around with a stock whip, and crack

it beneath a likely tree. The report of the whip — which, in the

hands of a practised man, is like the noise of a pistol — sends the

hen-bird off her nest at once. A method I often followed was to

go just at sundown and sit where I would not be noticed, keep-

ing a careful eye on all the likely holes. Kven then, unless I

watched very sharply, the first thing seen would be the hen-bird

flying silently and swiftly away, some \'ards from any tree.


When the young are hatched a nest may often be found, if

it is in a dead tree, by tapping the bole and then placing one's

ear against it. If the youngsters are alone they will at once

begin a clamour for food, which can be distinctly heard. The

parents feed the young early in the morning and just before

dark, and I have often found nests by watching the old ones at

work. But one must be concealed to do this, for once the Cock-

atoo sees you the alarm is given, and no further feeding is done

in that neighbourhood until you disappear.


When you have found your nests, the next question is



