THE USEFUL BIRDS 



WHITE COCKATOO 



(Sulphur-crested Cockatoo), 



€acjitiia galerita. Lath. 



Kak-a-tu! a gal-c-i~ttci. 

 Kakatua (Malay), imitation of the cry; galerum, a helmet. 

 Cacatua galerita, Gould, "Birds of Australia," foL, vol. v.. ])1. 1. 

 Geographical Distribution. — The whole of the Continent. 



Key to the Species. — Body feathers white ; crest yellow, the feathers 

 being narrow and recurved ; cere naked ; skin round the eyes white. 



The largest white species of the Parrot family is known 

 throughout the continent by means of its yellow helmet. 

 There are several Cockatoos that are nearly all white, but 

 this species is whiter than any other. 



The late Mr. John Gould, in his early wanderings in this 

 State, remarked upon the want of affection shown by 

 farmers for this bird. He says: — "As may be readily 

 imagined, this bird is not regarded with favour by the 

 agriculturist, upon whose fields of newly sown grain and 

 ripening maize it commits the greatest devastation ; it is 

 consequently hunted and shot down wherever it is found, a 

 circumstance which tends much to lessen its 'numbers. It 

 evinces a decided preference for the open plains and cleared 

 lands rather than for the dense brushes near the coast ; and, 

 except when feeding or reposing on the trees after a repast, 

 the presence of a flock, which sometimes amounts to 

 thousands, is certain to be indicated by their screeching notes, 

 the discordance of which may be easily conceived by those 

 who have heard the peculiarly loud, piercing, grating scream 

 of the bird in captivity, always remembering the immense 

 increase of the din occasioned by the large numbers of birds 

 emitting their harsh notes at the same moment." 



