24 B08E-BE.BASTED GOGEATOO. 



as fairly to deserve the name of aviary, which is so often misapplied 

 by fanciers : Mr. Wiener's recommendation, too, of keeping these birds 

 in pairs, is worthy of consideration, and if their abode is of sufficient 

 extent, and appropriately furnished with hollow logs, it is more than 

 likely that Mr. Gedney's success in rearing Rosy Cockatoos in captivity 

 will soon cease to be, as it is to-day, unique. 



We shall not make the attempt, however, for we have not sufficient 

 liking for the birds, but trust that our prejudice against them, ill- 

 founded as it very possibly is, will not deter other aviarists from trying 

 what they can do in this respect. 



The Eosy Cockatoo is rather smaller than the Leadbeater, but looks 

 less still in consequence of its head not being ornamented with a crest, 

 which, when erect, adds very considerably to the height and appear- 

 ance of the true Cockatoos, and gives them a bold and saucy air that 

 is nevertheless very becoming, and causes the crestless Parrots to look 

 comparatively insignificant by their side. 



It is a thousand pities, a million rather, that this otherwise charming 

 bird should rival even the peacock in hideous noisiness: but so it is, 

 for "handsome is that handsome does", is, unfortunately for amateurs 

 who look for beauty in their pets, and perhaps fortunately for the 

 rosy one himself, not a proverb that in this instance can be applied 

 with any degree of appositeness, for he is certainly handsome, but his 

 conversation is most decidedly objectionable to the last degree; in fact, 

 judging from the venom he throws into his shrieks, the stunned auditor 

 can but conclude that the bird is cursing his jailor with all his might 

 and main. 



In his own native land though, among the aromatic gum-trees, the 

 feathery foliaged acacias, the stiff grass-like forms of the native "she- 

 oaks," and the huge ferns, which it is no misnomer to call trees, the 

 Rosy Cockatoo is in his element, his sole appropriate place; cage him, 

 and he is the square peg in the round hole, or, vice versa, as the 

 reader pleases. 



Yes, a flock of Rosy Cockatoos playing among the branches, or seeking 

 their food among the long "kangaroo -grass" of some untilled plain, or 

 disporting themselves by the margin of a pond or creek, afford one 

 of the prettiest sights it is possible to imagine; their noisy outcries 

 are not so noticeable then, but mingle rather harmoniously as the altos 

 in the great concert of nature, in which the cicalas, or locusts, take 

 the treble parts; but the hours speed on their way, noon draws near, 

 the birds .retire to their camping trees, and almost every sound is 

 hushed, only the cicalas continue to call to another from the gum-trees, 

 and the White Cockatoos to scream from the cloudless depths of ether, 



