GREAT WHITE COCKATOO. Cacatua cristate. 



The green-black hue extends over the whole of the plumage, but around the eye is a 

 large naked space of skin, red in colour, and covered with wrinkles. The head is 

 ornamented with a large and curiously formed crest, which is composed of a number of single 

 feathers, each being long, narrow, and the web rather scanty. The colour of the crest is 

 rather greyer than the remainder of the plumage, probably on account of its less massive 

 construction, and its freedom from the white powdery dust which has just been described. 

 In general the crest lies along the top of the head, and merely exhibits the tips of its 

 feathers projecting over the neck ; but when the bird is excited by anger or pleasure, it can 

 erect the crest as well as the common Cockatoo. Some naturalists think that there are 

 two species of Aratoo, the larger being distinguished by the title of M. Goliath, and the 

 smaller called by the name of M. aterrimum, but the general opinion leans in favour of 

 a single species and two varieties. 



Two species of Cockatoo are tolerably familiar in England, differing from each other 

 in the colour of their crests. 



The first of these is the GKEAT WHITE COCKATOO, a remarkably handsome bird, 



