

ROSE-BREASTED COCKATOO. 39 
Where found.—It is very plentiful in the interior and in the. 
north of Australia, particularly in the Maranoa district. It is very 
common round the Gulf of Carpentaria. In Queensland it is found 
to the west of the Great Dividing Range. It is met with near 
Derby, north-west Australia, Port Denison, Port Essington, in New 
South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Both Oxley and Sturt 
found it to the north-west of the Blue Mountains. It is found near 
Bourke. 
Nidification.—Like all the members of this section, the rose 
cockatoo nests in the hollow branches of large trees, the box being 
usually preferred for this purpose. It lays its eggs on the débris of 
decaying wood generally found in such places ; the eggs are three in 
number, white, rather oblong in form, and slightly *granular. The 
breeding season begins in October. 
Brack SnaKkeE—Pseudechis porphyriacus. 
Description.—This is one of the most beautiful of snakes, and 
one of the most deadly in the effects of its bite. In this latter 
respect, if it is second to any of its congeners, it is subordinate to 
only the brown-banded snake, The length of the body is about 
5 feet, of the tail 6 inches; the head or gape is about 1 inch, The 
body and tail are moderately elongate and gradually tapering. The 
head is subquadrate, being flattened above and at the sides; it is 
obtusely rounded in front, and is a little wider than the neck 
behind. ‘The scales of the back are flat and smooth, in about 17 
rows ; the abdominal plates are about 180. The colour of the head, 
back, and tail is purplish-black or dark-slate colour; the lateral 
row of body scales on each side and the abdominal plates are rich 
carmine-lake red, with the hind tips and edges blackish. The 
under side of the head and the under side of the tail are lighter 
than the back. Like the other genera of the family Hiapide, the 
Bemanang in the black. snake is grooved on the front face for the 
uct of the poison-gland, which opens near the point. The bite of 
this reptile is highly venomous, killing good-sized dogs or goats 
within an hour. The fangs are scarcely large enough to penetrate 
common cloth or leather ; they do not pierce ordinary bush boots. 
This has been frequently proved by experiment. As in the family 
enerally, there are a few small harmless solid teeth behind the 
angs in the upper jaw, besides two rows on the palate, and the 
usual row of small hooked solid teeth on the lower jaw. The 
anterior series of subcaudal scales being in one row, and the posterior 
ones in two rows, is a character which readily separates the genus 
from the allied forms. 
Habits.—The black snake retires into holes in the ground during 
the winter months, from May, until the warmth of spring brings it 
forth again. When irritated, it can flatten and widen the neck by 
raising some of the anterior ribs. It then raises about two feet of 
its body off the ground, flattens out the neck like a cobra, and darts 
at its prey or enemy, Tts poison is exceedingly active and virulent. 
