530 NATURAL HISTORY. 



closed in the most wonderful way ; an instant more, and all is calm as 

 before. 



The great black cockatoo is not so handsome a bird ; but it is exceed- 

 ingly interesting in its habits, as described by Mr. Wallace. It feeds upon 

 various seeds ; but the kernel of the kanary-nut seems to be its favorite 

 food. " The shell of this nut is so excessively hard, that only a heavy 

 hammer will crack it ; it is somewhat triangular, and the outside is quite 

 smooth. The manner in which the bird opens these nuts is very curious. 

 Taking one endways in its bill, and keeping it firm by a pressure of the 

 tongue, it cuts a transverse notch by a lateral sawing motion of the sharp- 

 edged lower mandible. This done, it takes hold of the nut with its foot, 

 and, biting oil a piece of leaf, retains it in the deep notch of the upper 

 mandible, and again seizing the nut, which is prevented from slipping by 

 the elastic tissue of the leaf, fixes the edge of the lower mandible in the 

 notch, and by a powerful nip breaks off a piece of the shell. Again taking 

 the nut in its claws, it inserts the long and very sharp point of the bill 

 and picks out the kernel, Avhich is seized hold of morsel by morsel by the 

 extensile tongue. Thus every detail of form and structure in the extraor- 

 dinary bill of this bird seems to have its use, and we may easily conceive 

 that the black cockatoos have maintained themselves in competition with 

 their more active and more numerous white allies, by their power of exist- 

 ing on a kind of food which no other bird is able to extract from its strong 

 shell." The cockatoos all come from the eastern seas. 



The lories, the rosilla parakeets, the pigmy-parrots (scarcely larger 

 than one of our warblers), are all interesting and beautiful ; while the little 

 hanging or bat-parrots are curious from the way in which they sleep. 

 Instead of perching like any other well-behaved bird, they grasp a limb 

 with one foot just as does a bat, and hanging head downward, thus take 

 their rest. The affectionate little love-birds are also common pets, and are 

 admired by their owners not only for their bright colors, — green pre- 

 vailing, — but for their disposition as well. Such love as each evinces 

 for its mate is rarely equalled among the birds. 



The talking powers of the parrots reach their highest development in 

 the Jackos, or gray parrots, of western Africa. Detailing the remarkable 

 speeches of parrots is like giving the bright sayings of children ; in most 

 cases the brightness is perceived by only those interested ; but in one case 

 the remark was so apt that it demands repetition here. It was at a parrot 

 show in England where a prize was offered for the best talker. Parrot 

 after parrot was brought into the room by the expectant owners, their 

 cages uncovered, while the judges recorded their opinions. At last a gray 

 parrot was brought in. He looked around the room, and then exclaimed,. 



