THE COCKATOO. 81 



moment something near in front startles it (as extend- 

 ing your hand towards it quickly), the changed 

 appearance of the bird, together with its increased 

 beauty, is most extraordinary. 



If you will raise your eight fingers in a perpendi- 

 cular line, immediately in front of you, and suddenly 

 throw them forward, spreading them slightly apart as 

 you do so, you will get some idea of the action of this 

 most beautiful speaking-bird of Australia, when 

 quickly startled or when he is on speaking terms with 

 you. 



A countryman came into the train with me, with a 

 young one in a cage. He said he had taken it from 

 the nest only a few days before, and I could see it was 

 but a chicken, for it was only partly feathered, yet 

 the feathers of the crest were quite two and a half 

 inches in length and most beautifully marked. 



We brought with us a stuffed specimen, as we could 

 not so conveniently bring a live one. 



Then there are the black, the gray, the red-breasted, 

 and the " gang-gang " cockatoo, besides the cockatoo- 

 parrot, which the natives call kooranyawillawilla. 



