When one reflects that no figure of a Parrot is found in ancient Egyptian art, and that no Parrot is mentioned in the Bible, then one begins to understand the interest of Europeans in these "spoilt children" of the animal world, the "monkeys of the bird world," and "the cream of the Australian avifauna."
Their tameness, their affection, their entertaining habits, and their remarkable powers of speech, all help to render Parrots the favorites amongst birds. The brilliance of their plumage, their intelligence, and their longevity excite wonder, for Parrots have been known to live 100 years in captivity. Presumably, they would live even longer in a state of nature. Humboldt recorded, as quoted in Newton's "Dictionary of Birds," "that in South America he met with a venerable bird, which remained the sole possessor of a literally dead language, the whole tribe of Indians, Atures by name, who spoke it, having become extinct."
Australians will perhaps be surprised to learn that there are no Parrots or Cockatoos in Europe, and none in Asia, excepting India, none in Africa north of the Tropic of Cancer, and only two in North America, and that one of these is rapidly becoming extinct, and that Africa and India are poor in Parrots. Thus South America and Australasia alone are left as the lands that contain these interesting birds in any number. While South America contains the largest Parrots—the Macaws—all the South American species belong to one family. In the Australian region six families of Parrots are represented. Four of them are confined to the region, while but one species of the fifth family (Cockatoos) is found outside the region.
The Brush-tongued Parrots, or "Lorikeets," are a purely Australian family. Some of these are very common at times in flowering eucalypts, even in the public gardens and streets. The Blue Mountain Parrot, very common at times, is a giant of the family. It has been described as a "noble bird, gorgeously apparelled." Its vernacular name of Blue-bellied Lorikeet has been altered to Blue Mountain Lorikeet. We found these birds nesting in the big sugar-gums bordering Warunda Creek, Eyre Peninsula. They keenly and noisily resented our curiosity, and screeched much as we tried to discover them amongst the green foliage. Though so gaudy, they were picked out with difficulty. This bird was very troublesome in my garden at Bengworden, near the Gippsland Lakes, where, when the apples were about the size of marbles, they tore them to pieces to get the developing "pips." In common with the other members of the family, they have a swift, direct flight, and screech much when flying. The "Green Keets," generally called "Green Leeks," which are so very numerous at times, are often accompanied by two other Lorikeets, the Little and Purple-crowned Lorikeets. These green birds hang, head down, among the eucalyptus leaves, and brush up the honey from the flowers with their brush tongue. They follow the flowering of the eucalypts from district to district, and since the eucalypts flower at irregular intervals, these birds are not so regular in their movements as Swifts, Snipe, Curlews, Cuckoos, and other migratory birds. For this reason the birds may be absent from a district for some years, and then suddenly appear again in great numbers.
Cockatoos are almost confined to the Australian region. This includes the islands north-west of Australia out to Wallace's line, passing between Celebes and the Philippine Islands, Celebes and Borneo, and between the small islands of Lombok and Bali, east of Java. These islands, though but fifteen miles apart, "differ far more from each other in their birds and quadrupeds than do England and Japan. The birds of the one are extremely unlike those of the other." Another authority says that the faunas of Bali and Lombok are more unlike than those of South America and Africa. Bali has Woodpeckers, Barbets, Bulbuls, and Black and White Magpie-Robins, none of which is found in Lombok, where we find Screaming Cockatoos, Friar-birds, and other Honey-eaters, and the strange mound-building Megapodes and numerous other remarkable birds. This narrow strait is over 1000 fathoms in depth, and is probably one of the most ancient and most permanent dividing lines in the world. Instead of being united to Asia, it is probable that Australia has been more recently joined to New Zealand, South America, and South Africa. Only one Cockatoo transgresses Wallace's line to the west, and that is found in the Philippine Islands; evidently it has spread there from the adjacent part of the Australian region.
The sombre, slow-flying Black Cockatoo is the largest of all Cockatoos. It is seen fairly often in small companies, especially on wattles and eucalypts, the wood of which it tears to pieces with its powerful bill to get the insect larvæ feeding there. It is a valuable forest-saving bird.
The Glossy or Leach Black Cockatoo is named after Dr. Leach, who did a great amount of work on Australian animals about 100 years ago. It is a rare bird, and may readily be distinguished by its smaller size and more glossy plumage.
The peculiar gray Gang-gang Cockatoos are common in parts of the forest country. The male is easily recognized by his red head and crest. I occasionally see these interesting birds in the big eucalypt forests of Gippsland. I was surprised to discover that, in South Gippsland, it is generally called the Galah, a name which belongs to quite a different bird (194).
The screeching, fussy White Cockatoo, with its delicate sulphur crest, is well known. Many country dwellers enjoy the privilege of often seeing these snowy-white birds almost covering a dead tree. They are favorites as pets, and live to a good old age. They render good service at times by digging up and eating grasshoppers' eggs, though they do damage to maize and other crops. As they post sentinels, they are difficult birds to approach.