360 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



One of the greatest attractions of the Zoo at present to those 

 who like to see foreign birds exercising their natural activities con- 

 sists of a pair of the common pink-and-grey Cockatoos, well known 

 to Australians as " Galahs," which are enjoying their freedom in the 

 Gardens. They divide their time between the society of the Marmots 

 and Squirrels in the Squirrels' enclosure, and that of their caged 

 fellows in the Parrot Aviary at the opposite side of the Gardens. 

 Just about tea-time they are most in evidence ; after taking a meal 

 a lu carte with the rodents, they enjoy "themselves by nibbhng the 

 bark of an old dead willow in the neighbouring waterfowls' enclosure 

 or the turf on the Fellows' Lawn. These amusements are varied by 

 alarums and excursions on the wing. Yelling at the top of their 

 voices, the two Cockatoos start on a fly round, showing incidentally 

 a power of flight which no one would suspect from seeing them in 

 the Parrot Aviary. There they seem nearly as heavy on the wing as 

 Ducks : but the free birds show a wonderful command of wins, 

 flapping, when once well up in the air, with the slow, easy stroke of 

 a Sea-Gull, shifting like Swallows, and swooping hke Hawks. No 

 bird that I have ever seen flying at large shows such a pure joy in 

 flight for its own sake, or has such a splendid appearance in showing 

 it. As the Cockatoo turns, its lovely rose-pink breast is presented 

 to the eye, and stands out like a great flower when it alights on a 

 tree. The installation of these free Cockatoos at the Gardens was 

 quite accidental. The cock bird turned up one day as a " stray " in 

 the Squirrels' enclosure, and speedily made it clear that he had come 

 to stay. Of his associates, he plainly dispised'the wild Wood 

 Pigeons, and ignored the Squirrels ; the Marmots he seemed to 

 regard as kindred spirits, and used to play with them, stroking their 

 faces or clutching their tails playfully with his foot. At other times 

 he would tumble about with a dry crust of bread as if jugghng, and 

 altogether lived the life of a jovial bachelor until a mate was put out 

 for him in a cage. When it was seen that the solitary Adam appre- 

 ciated this companion, his Eve was liberated, and the two have lived 

 happy ever since. — Frank Finn [Pall JJall Gazette, Sept. 13th). 



