KEA— GREAT BLACK COCKATOO 13T 



anges, plantains, berries and other fruit. See Plate 8, 

 Fig. 37. 



Most notable among the Australian Parrots is the 

 great Kea. Before the introduction of sheep into that 

 island the food of this bird consisted chiefly of fruit 

 and nuts, but it speedily developed a taste for animal 

 food. These birds will seat themselves on the backs 

 of living sheep and with their long, sharp-pointed bills 

 tear through the wool and flesh in order to reach the 

 liver or kidneys of their victims, inflicting wounds that 

 usually result in the death of the animals. The Keas 

 are large, heavily built Parrots, in colour a dull green- 

 ish-broAvn over the whole body, with the feathers 

 arranged like scales. 



Australia is also the home of the Cockatoos, most of 

 which are a delicate cream-white or rosy colour. 

 Some, however, are black. These birds vary greatly 

 in size, some being very large, others among the small- 

 est of the Parrots. 



In the .Great Sulphur-crested Cockatoo the body is 

 a pure cream- white in tone, the crest a sulphur-yellow. 

 The under-side of the wings is also a delicate sulphur 

 colour. 



The Great Black Cockatoo is a most striking-look- 

 ing bird and the largest of this family. The upper 

 mandible is very large, with strongly- toothed edges. 

 The tongue is unlike that of most Parrots, being long, 

 slender and capable of being extended beyond the 

 beak. The colour of the plumage is jet black, with 

 a purplish bloom over it, due to the white powder 

 from powder-down feathers. The head is decorated 

 with an enormous crest of long, loose black feathers 



