41 



size, and are, as a rule, particularly tame and affec- 

 tionate in confinement, and they are among the most 

 intelligent of the Parrots, but many of them are 

 incorrigible screamers, and they are all terribly 

 destructive. Tliey are hardy and long lived, and they 

 require only a diet of maize, hemp, oats, and other 

 grain, with an occasional biscuit and piece of apple. 

 About fifteen species are imported. The biggest of 

 all the Cockatoos is the Great Black Cockatoo (^Micro- 

 glossus aierrhmis), a native of New Guinea, which 

 measures no less than thirty inches in length. It is 

 of a slaty black colour, excepting the naked skin of 

 the cheeks, which is pale red. A smaller variety of 

 the same species comes from the Aru Islands, and 

 seven other species of Black Cockatoos are known. 



The Gang-gang Cockatoo {Callocephaloii galeatiim) 

 is gre}^ with a scarlet head and crest. It is found in 

 South-East Australia and Tasmania, and is rarely 

 seen in confinement. A pair were exhibited at the 

 last Show at the Aquarium. 



The Rosy Cockatoo (^Cacatua roseicapilld) has the 

 upper surface gre}^ and the under parts rosy red. It 

 is the commonest and cheapest of the Cockatoos, and 

 a terrible screamer. The feathers of the head are 

 erectile, but can hardly be said to form a true crest. 

 The general colour of all the other Cockatoos is white, 

 the plumage being also full of a whitish powder. 

 The Great Salmon-crested Cockatoo (C violuccensis) 

 is one of the most splendid of the Parrots, being 

 Avhite with a delicate rosy tint, the long inner feathers 

 of the crest edged with orange vermilion. The Blue- 

 eyed Cockatoo (C ^/)//;«/w/<:«) derives its name from 

 the circular patch of naked blue skin round the eye. 

 It is a large species, not less than eighteen inches in 

 length. Ducorp's Cockatoo (C diicorpsi) also has a 

 naked blue patch round the eye, but is distinguished 

 from C. opthalinica by its much smaller size. Goffin's 



