GENUS CALYPTORHYNCHUS. 
THIS is an order of strictly arboral birds, living on the seeds of Eucalypti, Banksiat, and other trees peculiar 
to the country, and varying this diet by large tree caterpillars. It cannot be classed among the 
gregarious orders, for it is only to be seen in small companies of from four to six, and each part of the 
continent has its own special species. The mode of fight is slow and laboured, though at the same time powerful. 
The voice is a low crying call, quite unlike the usual shrill scream of the Cockatoo. Apart from these general 
distinctions it possesses two special charateristics : (1) The powerfully developed size of its bill, formed to tear 
arid strip bark from the living tree in search of such food, as the larvas of insects, which is found beneath; (2) the 
plumage, which is of a prevailing dusky black tone in the males, while in the females it is a dark brown. 
PLATE XIII. 
CALYPTORHYNCHUS LEACHII. {Gould.) 
LEACH'S COCKATOO. Genus : Calyptorhynchiis. 
THIS, the smallest Cockatoo of the genus to which it belongs, has such a diversity of plumage among its 
individual members that it is not at all uncommon to find five out of a group of eight at odds with each 
other The variation is usually found in the feathers of the cheek and head, and in the tail feathers of the 
two sexes. As a consequence of this vagary, as well as from the fact that it is widely distributed over New South 
"Wales, this species is recognised under numerous names. It affects the ridges and forest country, especially 
where the Casuarina abounds, upon the hard seeds of which it principally feeds. 
In its disposition it is far less shy and distrusting than others of the family, so that it is easily killed or 
captured ; and the death or disablement of one member of the small band has the effect of paralysing the rest— 
they fly round and round the dead or wounded comrade, or perch in a tree close by, perfectly blind to the danger 
they run, till each one is caught with little trouble. 
The powers of volition possessed by this bird are ordinarily slow and laboured, but, if need be, it will 
rise high in the air and sustain a flight of many miles. Its call varies from a feeble whine to a loud discordant 
cry. Unlike most of the Parrot tribe, its temperament is not suited to the thraldom of captivity, for, after a 
short while, it languishes and dies. Its natural food is the seed of the Casuarina. 
The period of nidification occurs in spring, when two eggs are laid in the hollow of some gum-tree. 
The plumage of the sexes is alike, except that the female takes a browner tinge of black and has a 
band of pale yellow feathers round the throat and back of head ; the under feathers of the tail are plain red, while 
the upper are crossed with bands of wavy black lines and fretted with black. The adult male has a uniformly 
rusty black plumage, with a broad band of scarlet across the tail feathers, excepting the two centre and the 
outer ones, which are black ; tip of tail, black ; irides, brown ; hill and feet, black. The young male resembles 
the adult female. 
The length of this bird is about twenty inches. 
Habitats : Cape York, Rockingham Bay, Port Denison, Wide Bay District (Queensland), Richmond 
and Clarence River Districts, New South Wales ; Interior, Victoria, and South Australia. 
