4 6 4 



The Cuckoo-like Birds 



sulphur-yellow. Following the disposition of Count Salvador!, it is possible to 

 separate the genus into two well-marked divisions on characters afforded by the 

 crest. In the first of these two divisions, which includes half a dozen splendid 

 species, the feathers of the crest are narrow, each terminating in a slender point 

 which is recurved at the extremity. The largest of these is the Great Sulphur- 

 crested Cockatoo (C. galerita) of Australia and Tasmania, which attains a length 

 of eighteen or twenty inches, and has the entire plumage white, with the excep- 

 tion of the elongated crest, which is sulphur-yellow. Closely related but not 

 exceeding a length of eighteen inches and having the naked skin about the eyes 

 blue instead of white, is the Papuan Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (C. triton) of the 

 Papuan Islands, while the Lesser Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (C. parvula) of the 

 Lesser Sunda Islands is only twelve and a half inches long and has a rather 

 brighter yellow patch on the ears. Of about the same size and coloration as the 

 last but with all the feathers having a distinctly yellow tinge is Cacatua sulphured 

 of Celebes and the Togian Islands, but distinguished at once by the orange-yellow 

 crest is the Citron-crested Cockatoo (C. citrinocrlstata] of the Sumba Islands. 

 In South Australia, as well as in some parts of the interior, occurs the splendid 

 species known as Leadbeater's Cockatoo (C. leadbeateri\ a bird about sixteen 

 inches long, with the general plumage white, the forehead, front, and sides of the 

 neck, breast, and abdomen tinged with rose-color, becoming very bright under the 



wings, while the crest is crimson at the base, 

 yellow on the center, and white at the tip. 

 The remaining species belong to the 

 second division, in which the crest is com- 

 posed of feathers that are broadened and not 

 recurved at the tip, one of the best-known 

 examples being the fine White-crested Cock- 

 atoo (C. alba) of the Molucca Islands, 

 which has the plumage white throughout; 

 its length is eighteen inches. In the Bis- 

 marck Archipelago the place is taken by 

 an allied form (C, ophthalmica), which is 

 slightly larger and has the inner feathers of 

 the crest yellow and the bare space about 

 the eye blue instead of whitish, while still 

 larger, attaining a length of twenty inches, 

 is the Rose-crested Cockatoo (C. moluccen- 

 sis) of Ceram and Amboyna, in which the 

 entire plumage is rosy- white, with the inner 

 long feathers of the crest edged with orange-vermilion. Australia is the home 

 of two closely related species, of which we may mention the Blood-stained Cocka- 

 too (C. sanguinea}, which has the general plumage white, with the lores and sides 

 of the face stained with patches of blood-red, and the bases of the wing and tail- 

 feathers sulphur- yellow; it is about fourteen inches in length. The only other 

 species that space will permit of mentioning is the beautiful Rose-breasted 



FIG. 148. Rose-crested Cockatoo, Caca- 

 tua moluccensis. 



