THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Calyptorhynchus banksii stellatus Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 263, 1912 
(S.-W.A.) ; id., List Birds Austr., p. 123, 1914 (S.-W.A.) ; S. A. White, Trans. 
Roy. Soc. South Austr., Vol. XXXVIII., p. 426, 1914 (Central). 
Calyptorhynchus banksii northi Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 262, 1912 : Dawson 
River, North Queensland ; id., List Birds Austr., p. 122, 1913. 
Calyptorhynchus banksii fitzroyi Mathews, Austral. Av. Rec., Vol. I., p. 35, 1912 : Fitzroy 
River, North-west Australia. 
Distribution. Australia (not Cape York) : not Tasmania. 
Adult male. General colour above and below steel-bluish black, many of the feathers 
on the upper-surface having a waved appearance ; second, third, fourth, fifth and 
sixth primary-quills incised on the outer webs and the first to the fifth on the 
inner ones ; middle tail-feathers like the back, the lateral ones have an irregular 
shaped patch of sealing-wax red across the middle portion, which becomes smaller 
in size and restricted to the inner webs of the outer pair of feathers, the shafts 
continuing black ; iris brown ; orbits black ; feet and tarsi mealy black ; bill 
slate grey. Total length 690 mm. ; culmen 52, wing 430, tail 290, tarsus 29. 
Figured. Collected on Melville Island on the 1st June, 1912. 
Birds from Hugh River, Central Australia, collected on 2nd of September, 1913, 
are smaller. Male : culmen 45 mm., wing 395, tail 20, tarsus 20. 
Immature. Seem to resemble the females. 
Adult female. General colour above and below black tinged with brown, and smoke- 
brown edges to many of the feathers ; entire back, scapulars, primary- and 
secondary- quills and middle tail-feathers black ; second, third, fourth and fifth 
primaries incised on the outer webs and the first to the fourth on the inner webs ; 
upper wing- coverts and bastard- wing black with pale brown fringes and whitish 
arrow-head markings to the feathers ; outer tail-feathers barred and mottled 
with sulphur-yellow and bright red on the middle portion of the feathers, the bars 
becoming narrower towards the tips ; crown of head, occipital crest, and sides of 
face black with yellowish-white subapical markings to the feathers ; breast and 
abdomen blackish- brown with smoke- brown bars, and edgings to the feathers ; 
under wing-coverts black with smoke-brown tips, the greater series, axillaries, 
and quill-fining uniform blackish ; under tail-coverts black barred with yellowish- 
white, some of the short ones tinged with red. Iris brown, orbits black, feet and 
tarsus mealy-black ; bill white, tip leaden-brown. Culmen 47, wing 406 mm. 
Figured. Collected on Melville Island on the 5th June, 1912. 
Immature seem to resemble the adults. 
Nest. A hole in a tree. 
Eggs. Clutch, one ; white. 52-55 mm. by 35-38. 
Breeding-season. May to July. 
When Latham described the Black Cockatoo in the Gen. Synops. Birds , Vol. I., 
1781 (pref. dated Jan. 1); on p. 260 he noted : “ In Parkinson’s voyage 
(p. 144) are mentioned black Cockatoos of a large size, having white spots 
between the beak and ear, as well as on each wing, and scarlet and orange- 
coloured feathers on their tails. These were met with on the coast of New 
Holland, in the South Seas.” 
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