_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
CALYPTORHYNCHUS BANKSII.
Banksian Cockatoo.
_Psittacus Banksii_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 107.—Ib. Gen. Syn.,
p. 63, p. 109.—Parkinson’s Voy., p. 144.—Cook’s Voy., vol. ii. p.
18.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 476.—Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii.
p. 199. pl. 27 (female).
_Psittacus magnificus_, Shaw, Nat Misc., pl. 50.
_Calyptorhynchus Banksii_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv.
p. 271.
—— _stellatus_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., tom. i. p. 683. pl. 27
(a very young bird).—Selby in Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. vi. Parrots, p.
134.
I have abundant reasons for stating that every portion of Australia yet
visited by Europeans is inhabited by members of the genus
_Calyptorhynchus_, and that at least six species are now known, each of
which has its own peculiar limits, beyond which it seldom or never
passes. The present species, which is one of those with which we first
became acquainted, and to which, as will be seen above, several specific
appellations have been given, is a native of New South Wales, out of
which colony I have never known it to occur, its range appearing to be
limited by Moreton Bay on the east and Port Philip on the south. It is
not unfrequently seen in the immediate neighbourhood of Sydney and other
large towns, and it alike frequents the brushes and the more open wooded
parts of the colony, where it feeds on the seeds of the _Banksiæ_ and
_Casuarinæ_, changing its diet however, as occasion may offer, to
caterpillars, particularly those that infest the wattles and other low
trees. The facility with which it procures these large grubs is no less
remarkable than the structure of the bird’s bill, which is admirably
adapted for scooping out the wood of both the larger and smaller
branches, and by this means obtaining possession of the hidden treasure.
The Banksian Cockatoo is a suspicious and shy bird, and it requires a
considerable degree of caution to approach it within gun-shot; there are
times however, particularly when it is feeding, when this may be more
readily accomplished. It never assembles in large flocks like the White
Cockatoo, but moves about either in pairs or in small companies of from
four to eight in number. Its flight is heavy, and the wings are moved
with a flapping, laboured motion; it seldom mounts high in the air, for
although its flight is somewhat protracted, and journeys of several
miles are performed, it rarely rises higher than is sufficient to
surmount the tops of the lofty _Eucalypti_, a tribe of trees it often
frequents, and in the larger kinds of which it almost invariably breeds,
depositing its two or three white eggs in some inaccessible hole, spout
or dead limb, the only nest being the rotten wood at the bottom, or the
chips made by the bird in forming an excavation.
The female and young birds of both sexes differ very considerably from
the old male in the marking of their plumage, and hence has arisen no
end of confusion and the various names assigned to this bird; the above
list of synonyms has been worked out with considerable care, and will I
believe be found correct.
It is with feelings of great pleasure that I find that the term
_Banksii_, having the priority, the name of the illustrious Banks, will
ever be retained as the distinctive appellation of this noble and
ornamental bird; and I would that it were in my power to write as many
pages respecting its habits and economy as I have lines; but this task
must devolve upon some future historian of the productions of a country
teeming with the highest interest, and who will doubtless find
occupation in investigating the minute details of that respecting which
I am only able to give a general outline.
The male has the entire plumage glossy greenish black, with a broad band
of rich deep vermilion across the middle of all but the two central
tail-feathers, and the external web of the outer feather on each side;
feet mealy brown; bill in young specimens greyish white, in old
specimens black.
The female has the general plumage glossy greenish black, each feather
of the head, sides of the neck and wing-coverts pale yellow; under
surface crossed by narrow irregular bars of pale yellow, becoming
fainter on the abdomen; under tail-coverts crossed by narrow freckled
bars of yellowish red; tail banded with red, passing into sulphur-yellow
on the inner margins of the feathers, and interrupted by numerous narrow
irregular bars and freckles of black.
The Plate represents the male and female about two-thirds of the natural
size.
[Illustration:
CALYPTORHYNCHUS MACRORHYNCHUS: _Gould_.
_Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _Hullmandel & Walton Imp._
]
CALYPTORHYNCHUS MACRORHYNCHUS, _Gould_.
Great-billed Black Cockatoo.
_Calyptorhynchus macrorhynchus_, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part X.
p. 138.
_Lȁr-a-wuk_, Natives of Taratong.
All the examples of this species that have come under my notice have
been collected at Port Essington, where it is usually seen in small
troops of from four to six in number. It has many characters in common
with the Black Cockatoos of the south coast, but no species of the genus
yet discovered has the bill so largely developed, which development is
doubtless requisite to enable it to procure some peculiar kind of food
at present unknown to us; it assimilates to the _C. Cookii_ of New South
Wales in the lengthened form of its crest, but differs in having much
shorter wings, and in the mandibles being fully one-third larger. The
females of the two species also vary considerably in the colouring of
the bands across the tail-feathers, which in the _C. Cookii_ is pure
scarlet, while the same part of the female of the present bird is
mingled yellow and scarlet. It differs from the _C. naso_ of Western
Australia in having a larger bill than that species, and in the much
greater length of the crest; a similar difference is also observable in
the colouring of the tail-feathers of the females that has been already
pointed out with regard to _C. Cookii_.
It is a very powerful species, and its habits and economy are so similar
to the other members of the genus that a description of them would be
superfluous.
The male has the whole of the plumage glossy bluish black; lateral
tail-feathers, except the external web of the outer one, crossed by a
broad band of fine scarlet; bill horn-colour; irides blackish brown;
feet mealy blackish brown.
The female has the general plumage as in the male, but with the
crest-feathers, those on the sides of the face and neck, and the
wing-coverts spotted with light yellow; each feather of the under
surface, but particularly the chest, crossed by several semicircular
fasciæ of yellowish buff; lateral tail-feathers crossed on the under
surface by numerous irregular bands of dull yellow, which are broad and
freckled with black at the base of the tail, and become narrower and
more irregular as they approach the tip; on the upper surface of the
tail these bands are bright yellow at the base of the feathers, and
gradually change into pale scarlet as they approach the tip; irides
blackish brown.
The Plate represents the two sexes about two-thirds of the natural size.
[Illustration: