144 rilE SPEAKING PARROTS. 



very beautiful in its white plumage. Mr. A. Eose speaks of one 

 wliicli said " Good Charles," and also danced, and when taking 

 leave would cry, with pretty bows, " Good-bye." Every cockatoo 

 of this species, without exception, soon becomes tame without 

 trouble. This species is extremely affectionate, and never 

 treacherous nor criven to biting ; it is also one of the healthiest 

 and most hardy of cage birds. Its talent for speech, however, 

 is not great, and only a few words may be expected from it. 



CHAP. XLVIL— THE GREATER SULPHUR- CRESTED 

 COCKATOO. 



Psittacus galeritus, Lth. 



Great Yellow-crested Cockatoo, Great White CocJcatoo (Ger., 

 Grosser gelbhduhiger Kahadu, grosser Gelhhauhen-Kahadu, 

 grosser weisser Kakada mit gelber Hauhe ; Fr., Grand Cacatois 

 a huppe jaune, Grand Cacatois hlanc a huppe jaune, Cacatois a 

 Crete jaune; Dut., Reus Geelkiiif Kahhetoe of Groote Geelhuif 

 Kahketoe) — Descrip)tion. 



This handsome cockatoo was one of those birds collected on 

 Cook's voyage, which were named and described by Latham in 

 1790. The old writers give no noteworthy particulars con- 

 cerning it, yet it certainly had been imported alive in very early 

 times. Like the above-mentioned bird, it is all white ; the 

 feathers of the forehead, front of the head, and the first feathers 

 of crest, are pure white, the rest are long, sharply bent backwards, 

 and then upwards ; the finely cut feathers of the crest are sulphur- 

 yellow ; the spot on the cheek yellowish-white ; the quills and 

 tail feathers are yellow underneath ; beak black ; cere white ; eyes 

 black, dark-brown, or reddish-brown ; a narrow white featherless 

 circle round the eye ; feet blackish-grey, with black scales and 

 claws. (The plumage sometimes has a yellowish tone on the 

 breast and under part of the body also, but, more rarely, a rose- 

 coloured shade.) Size: fully that of a crow (length, IG^in. to 

 nhm. ; wings, 12fin. to \A:\m. ; tail, C^in. to 6fin.). It is a 

 native of Australia — not towards the west — but extending 

 throughout Tasmania. Concerning its life in freedom, the 

 remarks which I have made in the Introduction about cockatoos 



