105 



House, (some of them being the most lovely birds in 

 creation as regards colouring,) do not appear to receive 

 that amount of attention of which they are worthy ; 

 perhaps the noise drives people away as soon as they 

 have entered, or perhaps people are not so fond of 

 parrots as of other birds ; nevertheless no one can 

 fail to notice the lovely Macaws— a row of twelve of 

 all colours of the rainbow chained to perches instead 

 of being kept in cages, and which are arrayed outside 

 when the weather is suitable. The meaning or origin 

 of the word Macaw, formerly spelt *' Maccaw," is 

 obscure. It is probably an aboriginal name. The 

 Blue and. Yellow species is the one most often seen in 

 captivity and a Crystal Palace show is now seldom 

 without one ; then comes the Red and Blue ; others are 

 rarely kept in private houses. There are three Macaws 

 in cages, the Noble, the Severe, and Spix, as they are 

 called. The two former are green and very much 

 smaller than those previously mentioned. 



The Cockatoos number fourteen, including the 

 Roseate, Sulphur, and Citron-crested, and the Greater 

 White Crested, Leadbeater's, Slender-billed, Triton, 

 Ducorp's, Blood - stained, and Goffin's Cockatoo. 

 " Cockatoo " is a very old-established word, having 

 been in use with some slight modification of spelling 

 for over 200 years, and was undoubtedly taken from 

 the cry. The Malay word is Kakatua. The Triton 

 has the naked skin round the eye blue instead of 

 white, otherwise it resembles the Sulphur-crested. 

 {To be continued). 



