126 THE BOOK OF BIRDS 



of Australia, and that long stretch of land which reaches 

 down from Asia into the island-studded seas, and which 

 we call the Malay Peninsula. 



Two of them are very familiar to English eyes — the 

 handsome white bird with the yellow head-dress, known 

 as the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, and the Great White 

 Cockatoo whose plumage has a slight rosy tinge in places, 

 while the crest is jDure white. 



It is good to know that the former at least is not in 

 danger of being counted among the birds that have lived. 

 As recently as 1907 I read a letter written to the Field 

 newspaper by one who knew the bird well, and he re- 

 ported that the species showed little or no signs of 

 decreasing in numbers. " Not long ago," he says, " I saw 

 a trailing flock of Cockatoos, about half a mile long and 

 containing some thousands of these birds, pass over my 

 house in the western district of Victoria." Indeed, he 

 reports that, in some wheat-growing districts, they are 

 so numerous as to be a veritable plague to the farmers. 



They build in holes in trees, preparing the nest far 

 down enough for it to be out of reach of any nest-robber's 

 arm, and choosing a hole high up enough to be not easily 

 reached by a climber. The lofty trunks of the eucalyptus 

 trees which abound in Victoria are favourites, as they give 

 just the conditions that are wanted ; for many of them 

 are ])ranchless until about thirty or forty feet from the 

 ground. Even the dead ones are not despised, for tliey 

 are often full of hollow places. 



To reach a Cockatoo's nest various means are used. 

 One is to throw up a rope till it falls over the lowest 

 bough, and then for the hunter to be hauled up by his 

 companion, by means of a noose. Another plan is that of 

 dri\'ing nails into the trunk, the climber using them as 



