THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
The iris is dark brown, bill dull leaden colour, legs black. The gizzard 
contained seeds.” 
Barnard [Emu, Vol. XIV., p. 46, 1914) added: “Large flocks of these 
birds, numbering from four to five hundred, were seen on the head of the 
M’ Arthur and Kilgour Rivers, where they were feeding on the seeds of a 
creeping plant growing on the plains. They were common all the way to 
the coast, but only in small flocks. They do not appear to breed on the 
M’ Arthur, as no nests were seen/’ 
Keartland’s note, published by North {Trans. Roy. Soc. South Austr 
Vol. XXII., Dec. 1898, p. 130) reads: “These birds were first observed at 
Mullawa, and were subsequently seen on several occasions as they passed 
overhead, but at the Fitzroy River they were very numerous. During 
December they came in large flocks to a small lagoon near our camp, just 
before sunset and in the early morning. They spent some time on the ground 
after satisfying their thirst, during which they appeared to be feeding on the 
bulbs of a species of water-lily. Young birds were taken by the natives from 
the spouts of the eucalyptus on the Margaret River early in November.” 
This note is amplified in the Austr. Mus. Spec. Cat., No. 1, Vol. III., where 
also occurs (p. 70) a note regarding the flocking habits of the bird at Port 
Darwin, and there is also a description of the egg taken at the Dag River, 
Northern Territory. 
In the Emu, Vol. III., p. 48, 1903, Cochrane observed, regarding the 
movements of birds in the Cooktown District, North Queensland : “ Here 
21st May, but retired, as the £ bloodwood ’ (eucalypt) nuts were not ripe 
enough ; here again 19th June ; also 23rd July, on bloodwoods. The other 
year a pair nested near the house. Only at early morning and at dusk were 
the birds seen near the nest. When young one was partly fledged, both 
parents left in the early morning, returning at dusk to a tree some distance 
from the nesting-tree, chattering away for a few minutes, then they would 
both fly to nest-hole, and enter without a sound.” 
Broadbent [Emu, Vol. X., p. 240, 1910) wrote : “ August, Cardwell. 
These red-tailed black Cockatoos assemble in large flocks this month ; have 
seen 60 in one flock.” 
From the Austr. Mus. Spec. Cat., No. I„ Vol. III., p. 65, I quote 
Mr. Robert Grant’s notes : “ While collecting around Boar Pocket, on the 
Beflenden Ker Range, North-eastern Queensland, in October 1888, on behalf 
of the Trustees of the Australian Museum, C. bayilcsi was very common. Its 
favourite feeding trees were the Casuarinas and Eucalypts, more especially 
the Bloodwoods, and another large tree with small glossy dark green leaves 
and clusters of small bell-like blossoms. In one of the latter trees, on one 
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