112



E. Maucl Knobel—A Pet Cockatoo



species abounding outside Bengal. According to his statement, there¬

fore, it should be Molpastes hcemorrhous (otherwise known as the Madras

Bulbul), which is distinguished from the Bengal Bulbul by the absence

of the conspicuous brown ear-coverts, and by the black of the occiput

and nape, which ends abruptly instead of passing down to the upper¬

most portion of the back. Interbreeding, however, between two

closely allied forms, and more specially between Moljmstes hcemorrhous

and Molpastes bengalensis, is so common that no conjecture as to the

ancestry of the albino specimen (i.e. whether it is descended from a pure

form, viz. Madras or Bengal parents only, or the product of interbreeding

between two closely allied species) can be hazarded. In the specimen

before us there is, however, no peculiar ear-covert to indicate its Bengal

origin, though, as I have already pointed out, a rosy tint of the flesh

is visible through the white feathers about the ears and lores.



A PET COCKATOO


By E. Maud Knobel


In the middle of April last I was lucky enough to obtain from

Gamage the most charming pet in the way of a bird I think I have ever

possessed. I have kept birds all my life, and have had all sorts. At

the early age of two years old I was given a pair of Doves, and from them

have ranged from Canaries to Finches (British and foreign) on to

insectivorous birds, also British and foreign—the first being Black¬

birds and Thrushes, and later on Shamahs and Tanagers, these, again,

being replaced by Parrakeets and Parrots, and since 1910 I have

practically kept only Parrots. My birds are my friends and companions,

and I have never kept them as anything else. To get a bird to place

absolute confidence in me and never to have the slightest fear has

always been my great object. I have had many charming and delightful

pets, but none, I think, to equal the subject of this paper.


“ Jackie ” is a small Cockatoo, similar to the Lesser Lemon Crested

(Cacatua sulpliurea), but considerably smaller than the usual specimens.

The B.M. catalogue puts the total length as 13 inches ; this bird

measures about 10 inches, yet I think he is quite adult and he certainly



