THE MOL UCCAN CO CKA TOO. 1 1 9 



with his neck retracted and his bill almost hidden in his 

 feathers, which he puffs out round his face till he looks 

 something like a snowy Owl, though he lacks the 

 magnificent eyes of those rangers of the night, his 

 being comparatively small and either black or reddish- 

 brown ; the latter colour distinguishing the females, and 

 the former the males of the species. The general hue 

 of the plumage is creamy white, but it is suffused, 

 particularly on the breast, with a delicate pale rose-red 

 tinge; the crest, which has a backward inclination, is 

 large, most of the plumes composing it being six 

 inches in length, the upper ones are white, and the 

 rest tinged with a reddish- orange colour pervaded with 

 a shade of rose. This crest is raised when the creature 

 is excited, and then the beautiful primrose tint of the 

 side feathers of the tail and those of the wings can 

 also be seen. At such times the Moluccan appears 

 almost twice as big as he really is and his black beak 

 comes out in strong contrast to the general white of 

 his plumage. As the venerable Bechstein has well 

 observed, "this beautiful bird has a noble air" he has, 

 and deserves the title, bestowed on him by someone, 

 of King, or Emperor, of all the Cockatoos. He seems 

 to be a favourite with Dr. Russ, who writes of him as 

 follows: "Der rothgehaubte oder Moluckenkakadu ge- 

 hort zu den schonsten unter alien", terms of praise 

 that I agree with; but Mr. Gedney (the pioneer of 

 foreign cage-bird literature in this country) is no friend 



