BANK SIAN COCKATOO. 
p. 426, 1914), under the name Ca'lyptorhynchus banksii stellatus : “Met with 
for the first time a little south, of Idracowra, on the Finke (River), after 
which hardly a day passed without seeing a flock pass over. They move 
about at times in large flocks up to several hundreds ; procure most of their 
food on the ground. When they come into water, night and morning, they 
make a most terrific noise. We have heard them flying round the camp and 
calling loudly long after dark. They seem to eat the seeds of the desert oak 
( Gasuarina decaisneana ) at times. The female has a lighter bill than the 
male, and the feathers about the face and neck spotted with yellow : tail- 
feathers also mottled with same colour. This, I believe, has been considered 
the immature phase up to this by some ornithologists. I am quite sure, 
from the large number dissected, that the lighter coloured bill and yellow 
markings on tail and body are characteristics of the female. Their call is 
like (that of) other members of the genus — a most discordant screech. 
. . . They were met with right into the MacDonnell Ranges.” 
The preceding absolutely confirms Keartland’s observations when on 
the Horn Scientific Expedition. In the Austr. Mus. Spec. Cat., No. 1, 
Vol. III., this is quoted (p. 68) : “In Central Australia C. stellatus may be 
seen in immense flocks feeding on all kinds of seeds which they find on the 
ground. The farthest south they reach is Goyder’s Well, on the Finke River, 
south of Charlotte Waters, but their range extends for about six hundred 
miles North of this point. They breed in the large timber along the course 
of the Finke, Hugh and Todd rivers. I am indebted to Mr. C. E. Cowle for 
a number of their eggs taken in the localities indicated.” 
Mr. C. E. Cowle’s note is also given, and he states : “ These birds 
frequently lay in the same nest their eggs have been taken from. They lay 
usually in March and April and up to the end of May, and remain with us 
throughout the year.” 
Mr. Tom Carter has given me the following note : “ The handsome Red- 
tailed Cockatoo is found in the vast Red Gum and Jarrah forests of South- 
western Australia, but is much less numerous than the White-tailed species 
( baudinii ), and from my own observations of nearly thirty years is rapidly 
diminishing in numbers. In localities where in 1887 considerable flocks 
could often be seen, they now rarely occur, no doubt mostly from the manner 
in which they are shot to obtain the handsome tail-feathers, and also the 
increased settlement and clearing of the timber. The habit of almost 
ceaselessly uttering their harsh grating cry, whether flying, or feeding on the 
Red Gum seeds, always betrays their presence and attracts the gun man. 
If the birds kept silent, their presence in the tops of the lofty timber would 
often and easily be overlooked. They are much more shy and reserved in 
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