NESTOR PRODUCTUS, Gould.

Long-billed Parrot.

Nest. brunneus ; rostro elongato ; capite nuchdque pallidée brunnescenti-griseis, harum dorsique plumis saturatiore margi-
natis ; uropygio, ventre, crissoque saturate rubris ; gutture pectoreque flavis, illo ad gulam rubro tincto ; alarum flenurd
subtis flavd olivaceo-rufo tinetd ; rectricibus ad basin aurantiaco-flavo brunneoque fasciatis ; remigu pogonits internis
ad basin subtisque sordidé rufo brunneoque fasciatis ; rostro pallido ; pedibus saturate brunneis.

Long. tot. 15 une.; rostri, 24; ale, 10; caude, 6; tarsi, 14.

General colour of the upper surface brown; beak elongated; head and back of the neck tinged with grey, the
feathers of these parts as well as of the back margined with a deeper tint; rump, belly, and under tail-coverts
deep red; cheeks, throat, and chest yellow, the former tinged with red; shoulders on their inner surface
yellow tinged with rufous olive ; tail-feathers banded at the base with orange yellow and brown; the imner
webs of the quill-feathers at the base and beneath, with dusky red and brown; bill brown; feet blackish
brown.

Plyctolophus productus, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc. Part IV. 1836. p. 19.
Nestor productus, Gould, Syn. of the Birds of Australia, Part I.

 

In his elaborate Monograph of the Psittacidee published in the first volume of the Transactions of the Royal
Academy of Munich, Dr. Wagler, in pointing the divisions into which the family is naturally grouped, has
characterized the Psittacus Nestor of Latham as the type of a new genus, and the bird now stands as the /Vestor
hypopolius of Wagler. It is with considerable pleasure that I have been enabled to add a second species
to this limited group possessing all the essential characters of the genus, whose native habitat, is I believe
confined to Norfolk Island and the most eastern portions of New South Wales. Like all the other members
of this extensive family, it bears captivity remarkably well, readily becoming cheerful and contented, at least
such is the case with an individual in the possession of Sir J. P. Millbank, Bart.; and as might have been
reasonably expected, the variation in the form of the mandibles which renders these birds so conspicuous is
accompanied by a marked difference in the nature of their food; the powerful bills of the other members of
the family enabling them to feed upon hard seeds and stony fruits, while from the elongated form of this
organ in the present birds this power is denied to them, and we find that they give a decided preference
to the leaves of succulent plants and the softer kinds of fruit. Sir J. P. Millbank informed me that the living
bird in his possession evinced a strong partiality to the leaves of the common lettuce and other soft vege-
tables, and that it was also very fond of the juice of fruits, of cream and butter.

Its voice was hoarse and inharmonious, frequently resembling the barking of a dog; and in Yate’s New
Zealand we are informed that the Nestor hypopolius, known there by the name of Kaka, is ‘‘ capable of learning
to imitate the human voice to a remarkable degree. . . The cry of this bird, when ranging at large in the
woods, is harsh and disagreeable in the extreme.”

Although I cannot assert it for a certainty, I have every reason to believe that both these birds frequently
descend to the ground, and grub up with their lengthened bills the bulbous and other roots which form a
portion of their food; particularly as [ have found earth still adhering to the mandibles of the specimens I
have examined; besides which I have been informed by Captain Sturt that a Parrot inhabiting Australia
having a similar bill but belonging to another group, is frequently in the habit of so doing.

This bird is extremely rare in collections, notwithstanding which we have had opportunities of examining
six or eight specimens, judging from which it appears that the sexual differences in colour are but trifling,
while on the contrary the young have but little of the rich yellow and red markings of the breast ; that part
being olive brown like the back.

Our Plate represents what we conceive to be an adult, and a young bird nearly so, but exhibiting traces of
the immature plumage on the chest. The figures are of the natural size.

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