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on my hand, in the presence of a visitor to whom I am showing the

peculiarly beautiful colours of the underwing, which are hidden when the

bird is at rest, the Parrot utters only the feeblest protest against the liberty

I am taking, never dreaming of activeh" resenting it.


Mr. Button asks if anyone can aver with truth that they have a

Cockatoo which never screams. In ni)' collection there are two of which I

can so speak. The Blood-stained Cockatoo [Cacatua sa?iguinea) has never

uttered a sound during the twelve months or so that it has been with me,

while the Black Cockatoo [Micfogiossus ateriimis) is equally innocent of the

fault of screaming, although he is fond of calling out something which

sounds like " Papa," and accompanies his effort with a ludicrous attempt at

laughing. My bird is very tame, but a sad feather-eater, and every possible

remedy has been tried in vain. We have sprayed him daily with a liquid

specially prepared to make his feathers distasteful to him, but with only

partial success. Even his tail and wing-feathers, which he knows wovild

"be painful of extraction, are not safe, for these he takes b}^ the extreniitj-,

and strips of their "web," leaving only the quills. I am faintly hopeful of

curing him by giving him only small seeds to eat, and plenty of soft wood

to make toothpicks of, and if my treatment succeeds I trust to be able,

some time hence, to show him in reasonable condition.


I have never kept the Great Green Macaw mentioned by Mr. Button,

although I have seen it ; but the trick of blushing, spoken of by Mr. Button

as appertaining to this bird, is shared to a remarkable extent by the Black

Cockatoo. In repose its cheeks are about the colour of the back of one's

hand, but when excited, either with pleasure or anger, they are flushed

with a rosy fed. He very much enjoj's being taken out of his cage,

although his formidable beak prevents visitors attempting liberties.


Mr. Button's query, as to whether either of our members have kept a

Spix Macaw, is answered by Mr. Fillmer's mention of wxy bird in his report

o\\ the foreign birds at the late Royal Aquarium Show. My bird is one of

the best-tempered birds in the collection. He delights in being taken in

one's hand, and there he will, with very great enjoyment, flap his peculiarly

short wings as though he meant to fly to the moon. Upside down or right

side up is all the same to him. He says a few words, and could easily be

taught to become a good talker if he were not mixed up with a large

number of Parrots, each of which has his own idea of harmony.


I cannot quite endorse Mr. Button's statement that Hyacinthiue

Macaws have no individuality. My Hyacinthine is devoted to my house-

keeper, and endures me, while he is spiteful to a degree to strangers. I

suspect that the latter is due to the fact that strangers are mistrustful of

his wonderful beak, and he knows it. With regard to " making a row,"

Mr. Button should hear the daily duet which takes up an hour each

morning between my H3-acinthine and the Spix, and he would wish he

hadn't. For the rest of the day, both birds are quiet; and I think if they

were beyond each other's hearing neither would be objectionable, {a)


I quite agree with Mr. Fillmer that the hen Violet Tanager is seldom


[a\ We have been oblig-ed reluctantly to omit that part of Mr. Fulljanies' letter which

continued the discussion of the L. and P. O. Society's Show — as we consider that sufficient

space has already been devoted to that subject. We have received other communications

upon the same subject which we have refrained from printing, for the same reason. — Kd.



