THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
strange to say, if I have a crop of maize just getting ripe, these Cockatoos 
are sure to find it out, and ‘will do great damage in a single day. They are 
awfully difficult to get near enough to shoot, as they seem to always have a 
sentinel perched on top of a dead tree or some other convenient place for an 
outlook, and at the least sign of danger it will give the feeding birds a warning, 
then they are off at once. The young are very slow growers, they take 
months to become fully fledged. With proper treatment they become splendid 
pets, also good talkers, but seldom have such human voices as many others of 
this tribe. In captivity they are very subject to the feather disease ; this I 
am sure is not altogether caused by the food given to them, because I once had 
a pair from the same nest, of which, at four years old the male was a perfect 
specimen, while the female was absolutely naked ; there was not what could 
be called a feather on any part but a few diseased stumps here and there, 
and yet these two birds were always fed together, and had exactly the same 
treatment.” 
Mr. J. W. Mellor’s notes read : “ This is one of the commonest of our 
Cockatoos ; it is found all over Australia, and nowiiere more plentiful than in 
South Australia. I have seen them in large flocks, and where the farmers 
stack their wheat in the open along the river banks, they will soon find it out, 
and rip open the bags, let the golden grain run out, and then eat it at their 
leisure. I noted them very plentiful along the Murray, while on a trip up to 
Renmark in the steamer “ Maggie ” at Easter (March), 1910, and the birds 
were then helping themselves to the grain in the bags in the usual manner ; 
they will also attack the wheat crops “while growing by rooting up the freshly 
planted grain, and also by nipping off the young shoots as they come above 
the ground ; they will also attack the wheat and other grain crops when in 
ear and ripening. They therefore have the hand of the farmer against them ; 
this is a pity as they are such beautiful birds. I have seen them also in 
Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and Queensland. In the latter place 
I saw large numbers at Coorong in the Blackall Ranges in November 1910, 
where they congregated in large flocks at night, to roost in the thick tropical 
scrubs around, and the harsh screeching noise was deafening, as they called 
to each other and settled down for the night ; they are fairly tame birds 
in this wild state. They nest in hollow trees, and sometimes in hollows in 
the rocks along the cliffs of the river banks like the Murray, laying two eggs 
to the clutch, rather elongated, and of a white colour. I have seen them 
nesting also in Kangaroo Island, the months being September, October and 
November.” 
Captain S. A. White observes : “ I take it that the New South Wales 
and Victorian bird would be the one found upon the river Murray in South 
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