THE COCKATOOS. 159 



filled with a fine dust-like powdery down, which makes its appear- 

 ance almost grey. The crest is described in the generic review ; 

 the beak is black, the ridge and sides a faint bluish-black ; the 

 featherless skin under the eyes, and near the beak, is of a dark 

 orange colour, inclining to blood-red, with lighter flesh-coloured 

 veins ; the feet and claws black. The two sexes are said to be 

 alike in outward appearance, save that the hen has a shorter 

 beak. In size it is rather larger than a raven (length, 26|in. to 

 31-|-in. ; wings, loin, to IGMn, ; tail,10in. to llfin.). 



It is indigenous to the north of Australia, and the neigh- 

 bouring islands of the Malay Archipelago. Van der Meulen 

 was the first to describe this bird in 1707, and was followed by 

 Edwards, in 1764. Gmelin, in 1788, furnished the first drawing 

 of it, and gave it its scientific name. Wallace supplies informa- 

 tion as to its life in freedom. Its cry is a protracted, shrill, but 

 plaintive, piping. It lives in low wooded districts, where it is 

 found in couples or in small families ; its flight is slow and 

 noiseless ; its food, seeds, together with the kernels of the 

 canary-nut tree, the hard shells of which it is able to open with 

 its powerful beak. Dr. 0. von Martens observed it in captivity 

 in Bahia : " A droll fellow, which sits there stifily, with a red 

 face, powerful beak, and a constantly erected feathery crest. 

 On the approach of a stranger, as well as from pleasure, it utters 

 rattling cries." According to other travellers, it lives in the 

 tops of high trees, whether growing in woods or apart. It is 

 cheerful and agile, and speeds on its way with powerful strokes 

 of the wing. The couples are very shy. The young are 

 frequently taken from the nest and brought up by hand, yet 

 they seldom come to Europe. In the year 1860 Mr. Wester- 

 man, Director of the Zoological Gardens in Amsterdam, had 

 a Macaw Cockatoo, which had been fed with canary-nuts on 

 the voyage, and was with difficulty accustomed to oats, &c., 

 on which, however, he afterwards throve. Dr. Max Schmidt 

 speaks of the great strength of its beak ; it bit a porcelain 

 vessel to pieces, for example, and even made a hole in a cast 

 iron pan. It eats seeds, and the mealy part of maize, and likes 

 raw meat, but must have its food thoroughly bruised and 

 crushed. Its voice reminds one of the creaking of a door, and 

 travellers describe it as particularly jarring. It should be fed 

 according to the directions given on p. 29, but it is also fond 

 of nuts and fruit. It has been occasionally offered for sale of 

 late years, by the great dealers. Mr. A. E. Blaauw conjectures 



