The two figures in the accompanying Plate are rather less than the natural size.
NESTOR PRODUCTUS. (Gould)
Drawn from Nature & on stone by J & E Gould. Printed by C. Hullmandel.
NESTOR PRODUCTUS, Gould.
Phillip Island Parrot.
Wilson’s Parrakeet, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 170.?
Long-billed Parrakeet, Ib., p. 171.?
Plyctolophus productus, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part IV. 1836, p. 19.
Nestor productus, Gould, Syn. of the Birds of Australia, Part I.
I have considerable pleasure in being enabled to add a second and so beautiful a species as the present to the genus Nestor of Wagler. Like its near ally, the N. hypopolius, which, so far as is yet known, is only found in New Zealand, the N. productus has a very limited habitat, the entire race, as I am credibly informed, being confined to Phillip Island, whose whole circumference is not more than five miles in extent; so strictly in fact is it confined to this isolated spot, that many persons who have resided in Norfolk Island for years, have assured me its occurrence there is never known, although the distance from one island to the other is not more than three or four miles. I regret to state, that, in consequence of the settlement of Norfolk Island, the native haunts of this fine bird have been so intruded upon, and such a war of extermination been carried on against it, that if such be not the case already, the time is not far distant when the species will be completely extirpated, and, like the Dodo, its skin and bones become the only mementos of its existence.
Had I been able to visit Norfolk and Phillip Islands, I should certainly have made every inquiry into the native habits and economy of this very singular form among the Parrots, the nature of its food, mode of procuring it, &c.; and I would now urge the necessity of these investigations upon those who may be favourably situated for making them. Like all the other members of the extensive family of Psittacidæ, it bears captivity remarkably well, readily becoming contented, cheerful, and an amusing companion. During my stay at Sydney, I had an opportunity of seeing a living example in the possession of Major Anderson, and was much interested with many of its actions, which were so different from those of every other member of its family, that I felt convinced they were equally different and curious in a state of nature. This bird was not confined to a cage, but permitted to range over the house, along the floors of which it passed, not with the awkward waddling gait of a Parrot, but in a succession of leaps, precisely after the manner of the Corvidæ. Mrs. Anderson, to whom I am indebted for the little I could learn respecting it, informed me that it is found among the rocks and upon the loftiest trees of the island, that it is so tame as to be readily taken alive with a noose, and that it feeds upon the blossoms of the white-wood tree, or white Hibiscus, sucking the honey of the flowers: the mention of this latter circumstance induced me to examine the tongue of the bird, which presented a very peculiar structure, not, like that of the true honey-feeding Parrakeets (the Trichoglossi), furnished with a brush-like termination, but with a narrow horny scoop on the under side, which, together with the extremity of the tongue, resembled the end of a finger with the nail beneath instead of above: this peculiarity in the structure of the organ is doubtless indicative of a corresponding peculiarity in the nature of the food upon which the bird subsists. I may mention that Sir J. P. Millbank, Bart., informed me that a living example of this species in his possession evinced a strong partiality to the leaves of the common lettuce and other soft vegetables, and that it was also very fond of the juice of fruits, of cream and butter.