P A 11 R O T. 



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twelve inches in length. The general colour of the 

 plumage is white, variously shaded with reddish 

 chestnut, which is very deep on the under sides of I 

 the winirs. The bill and feet are pale grey, and the ' 

 irides bright reddish brown, showing very conspicu- 

 ously hi the comparatively pale plumage with which 

 the eyes are surrounded. A row of feathers over the 

 l;:;s<> of the upper mandible are scarlet, but the re- j 

 mainder of the plumage on the forehead is of the ] 

 general colour of the body, the feathers being elon- j 

 gated, and running a species of coverts over the bases of i 

 the principal crest feathers. These crest feathers are 

 first bright brick red, then yellow, then bright red | 

 again, and ultimately white for the last half of their 

 leiiifth, where they" are lancet-shaped. This is an 

 exceedingly handsome species, but unfortunately 

 scarcely any thing is known of its history. 



It is generally understood, however, of this and of 

 all the other cockatoos, that they nestle in holes of 

 trees, and have only two eggs in a hatch, which are 

 white without any markings. They are vegetable 

 feeders, and flock together after the young are hatched, 

 ut which time they levy pretty severe contributions 

 upon the crops of the colonists inland from Sydney. 

 Tliev are wary birds, and place sentinels, as appears 

 to be the case with all the ranging members of the 

 parrot family ; but the colonists shoot the young of 

 various species in great numbers, and hold them in 

 considerable estimation as game. So few particulars 

 are known, however, with regard to the general habits 

 of this interesting division of the parrot family, that 

 there are not materials sufficient for forming even a 

 guess at their use in the economy of nature, or the 

 kinds of localities for which they are peculiarly 

 ud ipted. 



Resembling the cockatoos, in so far as having a 

 crest upon the head, and partially also in the shape 

 of the body, there are one or two species which in- 

 habit the oriental islands, more especially New 

 Guinea. Their habits in a state of nature are 

 little known ; but the form of the tongue leads us to 

 conclude that they must be different from those of 

 all the decidedly frugtvorout members of the parrot 

 family ; for all of these have the tongue thick, fleshy, 

 loni>, and smooth or simple at the extremity. The 

 species to which we now allude have the tongue 

 small, in the form of a little horny gland, surrounded 

 bv a sort of capsule, and supported upon a cylindri- 

 cal peduncle of some length. From this slenderness 

 of the tongue, as compared with the typical parrots, 

 these birds have got the name of Microglotsus, or 

 little tongue ; though what particular purpose this 

 singular form of tongue answers in their economy has 

 not been ascertained. We shall notice only one of 

 them. 



Goliath Araloo (P. atemnnts). This is a very 

 large bird, one of the largest, if not the very largest, 

 of all the parrot family ; and its aspect is rather re- 

 pulsive. The general colour is blackish, with a dash 

 of purple toward the head, and of green on the wings. 

 A large space around the eye is covered with a naked 

 bkin, wrinkled, and of a red colour ; in the midst of 

 which the brownish yellow iris glares out in rather a 

 formidable manner. The head is furnished with a 

 crest of feathers, of slender form, and nearly of the 

 same colour as the body ; and these feathers the 

 bird can erect at pleasure, though, when not erected, 

 they give the head a shaggy appearance. This bird 

 has been known for more than a hundred years ; but 



we arc still in perfect ignorance as to its manners. 

 We do not even know what it feeds upon ; though 

 the great strength of its bill, and the decidedly 

 marked teeth in the upper mandible, lead naturally to 

 the supposition that the work which it performs must 

 be of no ordinary kind. 



Though, in common with various others, we have 

 applied the specific epith'et, aterrimus, or the blackest, 

 to this species, we believe it is not quite correct ; for 

 there is one still blacker as to external appearance ; 

 and goliath, the specific epithet adopted by Kiihl, 

 may be better descriptive of this one. The difference 

 in blackness does not, however, arise so much from 

 the tint of the feathers, as from a grey powder which 

 comes out in considerable quantity between the fea- 

 thers of this one, and gives them a tinge of its own 

 colour. The other is a much smaller kind, not above 

 fourteen inches in length ; and the bill and feet are 

 rather paler than in this one. Both appear to be 

 natives of the same countries, and their manners are 

 equally unknown. It is possible that they may be 

 merely varieties, or even the same bird ; for it is 

 stated that the skins which are distributed through 

 the different museums of Europe, differ greatly in 

 size, and not a little in the tint of the plumage. 



There is another bird, exceedingly little known, and 

 rarely to be met with except in the most extensive 

 collections, which has the general air of a parrot, and 

 a formidable bill, fitted for hard labour ; but in its 

 bill and head it differs greatly from all the rest of the 

 parrot family. Wagler has made it the type of a 

 genus, under the name of Dastiptilus, in consequence 

 of its head being covered with hairs, rather than with 

 feathers. It is a bird of pretty large dimensions, mea- 

 suring about twenty inches in length, and being 

 stoutly made. With the exception of the upper 

 part of the neck and the head, the feathers have the 

 character of parrot's feathers ; and the feet also are 

 those of a parrot. The bill, however, when seen in 

 profile, appears to be something intermediate between 

 those of a parrot and the beak of a bird of prey. It 

 is of moderate height at the base, and pretty long, 

 the basal part of the upper mandible being straight, 

 though the point curves strongly over the lower one, 

 which is narrow at the tip, with strong margins, and 

 fortified with a keel along the middle. This bill and 

 the shape of the head, together with its being covered 

 with hair, and not feathers, give this bird a more fero- 

 cious air than the generality of the parrots ; though 

 it is still probable that it is a vegetable feeder. The 

 cheeks and a portion round the eye are brownish ash, 

 and nearly naked, being covered with only a few hairs. 

 Above the eye there is a crimson spot, which is co- 

 vered by hair, like feathers. The remainder of the 

 head and neck are black, and thinly covered with 

 feathers of the same kind, which do not conceal the 

 skin. The tarsi are strong, but very short ; and the 

 toes and claws powerful. The scales on the tarsi are 

 not imbricated, as they are in the majority of birds 

 which live in trees, or on the dry ground ; but reti- 

 culated, or placed in a net-work of connecting mem- 

 brane, as they are upon the tarsi of wading birds. 

 This particular covering of the head and upper neck, 

 and of the tarsi, certainly points to some peculiarity 

 in the habits of this bird; but what this peculiarity 

 is it is impossible to say in the present state of our 

 knowledge. The form and shortnessof the tarsi, and 

 tlie decidedly zygodactylic structure of the feet, are 

 against the idea of the bird being in any respect a 



