52 



cassell's book of birds. 



THE CASMALOS. 



The Casmalos (Microg/ossus aterrimus), the best known of these species, is an inhabitant of 

 New Guinea, and is one of the largest of the parrot tribe, even exceeding most of the Araras in this 

 respect. Its plumage is uniformly deep black, with somewhat of a greenish gloss ; the living bird has 

 a greyish appearance, owing to a white meal-like dust, which, as in most other parrots, is scattered 



THE CASMALOS [Microglossus aterrimus). 



over its plumage ; the naked wrinkled cheeks are of a red colour. The cr.est is formed by a number 

 of long slender isolated feathers, and is of a lighter grey than the rest of the plumage. 



Little is known of these birds in their natural state. " The Large-beaked Parrot," says von 

 Rosenberg, " is not rare in the islands of Waigui, Misool, and Salawatti, and is found on the coast 

 of New Guinea. It usually perches at the very top of the highest trees, keeping its body constantly 

 in motion, and whilst resting, or when by powerful strokes of its wings it raises itself into the air, it 

 utters a trumpet-like note quite different from that produced by the White Cockatoo. The natives 



