440 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
Cockatoos have tails of medium length, cheeks feathered, and 
head surmounted by a white, yellow, or pink tuft, which they can 
raise and lower at will. They are the largest among the race of 
Parrots of the old continent. They inhabit the Indies and the isles 
of- Oceania, and are pretty, graceful, docile, and caressing, but are 
indifferent talkers. One very remarkable species of this group is 
the AZicroglossum aterrimum, called by Levaillant the “ Macaw with 
the trumpet,” from the formation of its tongue, which is cylindrical 
and terminated by a little gland slightly hollowed at the extremity. 
Fig. 168.—Green Parrot. 
When this bird has reduced into fragments by the help of its jaws 
the kernels of the fruits which form its nourishment, it seizes the 
pieces by means of the hollow which terminates the tongue, and, 
having tried the flavour, projects the trumpet in front, and makes it 
pass to the palate, which has the function of causing it to fall into 
the throat. This curious mechanism was disclosed by Levaillant. 
The Great White Cockatoo (Cacatua cristatus) is a remarkably 
handsome bird, but does not produce more admiration than Lead- 
beater’s Cockatoo (Cacatua Leadbeateri, Fig. 169). 
‘TOUCANS. 
The characteristic of the birds which compose the family of 
— 
