152 THE SPEAKING PARROTS. 



inner side of the flights, whicli is pale yellow, and the inner side of 

 the tail feathers, which is of more pronounced yellow; sometimes 

 the whole of the otherwise pure white plumage has a yellowish 

 tinge ; tbe beak is greyish-white ; the cere and nostrils are set 

 with little white feathers ; the eyes are black, dark brown, or 

 dark red, a large bluish-white circle round the eye ; the feet are 

 greyish-white, the scales and claws blackish. The size is rather 

 larger than a jackdaw (length, 12in. to lo^in. ; wings, 8}in. to 

 lOf in. ; tail, oiin. to 5|^in.). It resembles Goffin's Cockatoo, 

 but is distinguished by the shorter crest, and by the feathers on 

 the head, throat, and breast being other than red at the base. It 

 may be distinguished from the Eed-vented Cockatoo by the 

 absence of the red coverts underneath the tail. It is indigenous 

 to the Solomon Islands. It was described and drawn by Hom- 

 bron and Jacquinot in 1830, but is still rare both in museums as 

 a stuffed specimen as well as alive among the dealers. Layard 

 observed them in the Island of Bougainville on the mangrove 

 trees, on the fruit of which they subsist. Strange to say, it has 

 nearly always happened that the birds which have come into the 

 possession of the fanciers — for example, Mr. Fiedler, Mr. Linden, 

 and the Baroness Sidonie von Schlechta, of Vienna — have been 

 hens, which have laid several eggs. The above-named lady 

 describes one as follows : "I brought the cockatoo home wrapped 

 up in a cloth, but the way it dashed itself against the bars of the 

 cage did not lead me to expect the establishment of a very 

 friendly footing between us. But how astonished was I when, 

 after I had put off my hat, it seemed quite quiet, and allowed 

 me to take it on my hand. The puzzle was afterwards solved, 

 for whenever I put on my hat, or wore a bandage on my head 

 for headache, it became either shy or wicked ; the dealer 

 from whom I had bought it used to wear a round cap, and 

 towards this man the bird had borne a grudge. It was only 

 after a length of time that it began to know me with that or 

 other hats, and when I called to it would recognise me and nod 

 expressively. Its favourite food was roast potato, nuts, and oats, 

 as well as a gruel made of polenta flour and water. It said 

 several words and sentences very prettily, in a gentle childlike 

 voice, but quickly and vivaciously." Mr. Linden also writes of a 

 Ducorps' Cockatoo which he had, that it was tame and afifec- 

 tionate, and was especially charmed by the sound of a lady's 

 voice ; it laid an egg every year. 



