CLIMBERS. 



267 



kernel, continually utters a short clucking sound, indicative of 

 pleasure. 



It soon learns to repeat ■words and short sentences, and to 

 speak with tolerable distinctness. Some- 

 times when excited it utters most ear- 

 piercing screams, and always appears to 

 practice any new accomplishment when it 

 thinks that no one is within hearing. The 

 color of the bird is green, and a rose- 

 colored band round its neck gives it the 

 name of the Rose-ringed Parrakeet. The 

 bill is red. 



The Cockatoos are remarkable for 

 the powdery surface of their wings, and 

 the crest on the head, which can be raised 

 or depressed at pleasure. The Sulphur- 

 crested Cockatoo is an inhabitant of New 

 Guinea. Its color is white, and the crest 

 is of a sulphur yellow. Its white plumage 

 glancing among the dense dark foliage of its native forests, imparts 

 a wonderful beauty to the scene, and as Sir Thomas Mitchell re- 

 marks, " amidst the umbrageous foliage, forming dense masses of 

 shade, the white cockatoos sported like 

 spirits of light." This Cockatoo is easily 

 tamed, and is of a very affectionate dispo- 

 sition. When in captivity it has been 

 known to live to the age of 120 years. 

 Its nest is built in hollow trees and the 

 crevices of rocks. The eggs are white. 

 The length of the bird is about' eighteen 

 inches. 



The Woodpeckers, whose name 

 indicates their habits, ,are widely spread, 

 being found in all quarters of the globe 

 except Australia. They subsist on insects and grubs, which they 

 dig out of trees, or discover under the bark. For this purpose, 



Ringed Parrakeet. 



Sulp1iUF«re8ted Cockatoo. 



