100 THE SULPHUR CRESTED COCKATOO. 



the domestic fowls of other lands. We thought 

 them, indeed, inferior in this respect to any we 

 had obtained amongst the islands of the Pacific. 

 Domestic ducks have been but recently in- 

 troduced, and are not as yet numerous. 



Wild pigeons abound in the jungle. Those 

 we shot had the plumage of the back, and outer 

 surface of the wings, of a light-olive colour, 

 transversely barred with a darker shade ; the 

 throat and breast white, elegantly barred with 

 black ; the interior of the wings bright-cin- 

 namon ; the beak and legs blue ; and a yellow 

 circle of naked skin around each eye. 



The only species of the parrot tribe we noticed 

 on this coast, was the " Lesser Sulphur-crested 

 Cockatoo." (Plyctolophus sulphureusj Some 

 examples of this bird have the eyes entirely 

 black, whilst others have a black pupil and red 

 iris. I have reason to believe, that the latter 

 colour is characteristic of the female. Those we 

 obtained from the natives talked well, and were 

 apt at their learning, but when newly purchased, 

 their communications were made only in the 

 Malayan tongue ; hence, with the exception of 

 the word "cockatoa," the pith of their discourse 

 was lost to their European possessors. 



The fishing-eagle, called, in India, the Brahmin 

 Kite, is seen hovering over the waters of this 



