70 
Family PSITTACID/E. 
No one group of birds gives to Australia so tropical and foreign 
an air as the numerous species of this great family, by which it is 
tenanted, each and all of which are individually very abundant. Im- 
mense flocks of white Cockatoos are sometimes seen perched among 
the green foliage of the Eucalypti ; the brilliant scarlet breasts of 
the Rose-hills blaze forth from the yellow flowering Acacice ; the 
Trichoglossi or Honey-eating Parrakeets enliven the flowering 
branches of the larger Eucalypti with their beauty and their lively 
actions ; the little grass Parrakeets rise from the plains of the inte- 
rior and render these solitary spots a world of animation ; nay the 
very towns, particularly Hobart Town and Adelaide, are constantly 
visited by flights of this beautiful tribe of birds, which traverse the 
streets with arrow-like swiftness, and chase each other precisely after 
the manner the Swifts are seen to do in our own islands. In the 
public roads of Van Diemen’s Land the beautiful Platycerci may be 
constantly seen in small companies, performing precisely the same 
offices as the Sparrow in England. I have also seen flocks of from 
fifty to a hundred, like tame pigeons at the barn-doors in the farm- 
yards of the settlers, to which they descend for the refuse grain 
thrown out with the straw by the threshers. As might naturally be 
expected, the agriculturist is often sadly annoyed by the destruction 
certain species effect among his newly-sown and ripening corn, parti- 
cularly where the land has been recently cleared and is adjacent to 
the brushes. Fifty-five well-defined species of this great family are 
figured and described in the present work. They appear to con- 
stitute four great groups, each comprising several genera, nearly the 
whole of which are strictly and peculiarly Australian ; for instance, 
neither Calyptorhynchus, Platycercus, Euphema , Psephotus, Me- 
lopsittacus, or Nymphicus have been found in any other country ; 
and whether we consider the elegance of their forms or the beauty 
of their plumage, they may vie with the members of this extensive 
family from any part of the world. 
Genus Cacatua. 
Australia, the Molucca and Philippine Islands and New Guinea 
are the great nurseries of the members of this genus. They incu- 
bate in holes of trees or in rocks, and lay two eggs. 
361. Cacatua galerita Vol. V. PI. I. 
There are evidently several varieties or races of this species in 
Australia, each possessing a modification in the form of the bill 
doubtless given for some specific purpose ; the Van Diemen’s Land 
bird is the largest, and has the upper mandible attenuated, while 
the Port Essington bird is altogether smaller, and has a much more 
arched bill. 
362. Cacatua Leadbeaterii Vol. V. PI. 2. 
This species ranges over all the southern portions of Australia 
between the 20th and 30th degrees of S. latitude. I have never seen 
