128 GREAT BLACK COCKATOO. 



considered a quite respectable creature, that takes no pleasure in 

 annoying people by the undue exercise of a faculty that has its uses 

 no doubt: but is certainly misemployed when rendering its owner a 

 nuisance to the neighbourhood where it happens to be lodged. 



It is a solitary bird, generally found singly, or at most in pairs, in 

 the densest forests, where "Wallace discovered it living on the fruit of 

 the Oanarium commune, the shell of which is so hard, that the nuts 

 are with difficulty broken with a hammer; yet the Black Cockatoo 

 manages to extract the kernel, which would be all but impossible for 

 any other bird to accomplish; and in the process, which is one that 

 takes time, the Black Cockatoo is assisted by its horny-ended tongue 

 as much as by its indented and sharp-pointed beak. 



As will be seen by the drawing, the latter organ is very large, 

 with the tip of the upper mandible very long and acute, projecting far 

 beyond the under mandible, which, although of respectable dimensions, 

 is, nevertheless, weak and small in comparison. 



The colour of the plumage generally is black, but glossed with a 

 greenish grey tinge; from the quantity of white powder secreted by 

 the skin and interspersed among the feathers. 



It has been remarked that these birds vary considerably in size in 

 different museums; but this we think is owing rather to the imperfect 

 mounting of the specimens than to any real difference among the living 

 birds; for the few individuals we have at times been able to observe 

 did not vary much in dimensions. Kuhl, however, considered that the 

 larger birds constituted a distinct species from the lesser, and dis- 

 tinguished the former by the title of Psittacus Goliah, and the latter 

 by that of Psittacus aterrimus. 



"But", as Selby very properly remarked, "further observation is 

 required to verify the views of this ornithologist; and for the present 

 we adhere to Wagler's opinion, who considered them identical." 



As we have already observed, an inexperienced or careless taxidermist 

 will frequently manipulate his subject in such a manner as to render 

 it almost unrecognisable; now extending the skin to far beyond its 

 natural dimensions; or again, by insufficiently softening it, make it 

 look much smaller than it ought to be, as may be seen by comparing 

 together specimens mounted by different workmen; and that this was 

 the case with the skins examined by Kuhl, who does not appear to 

 have ever seen the bird alive, is more than probable. 



The Arara Cockatoo is one of the few birds that maintains a price 

 altogether out of proportion to its merits; for after all has been said 

 there is little to recommend it to the notice of amateurs; yet the dealers 

 demand from £15 to £30 apiece for it, according to Herr Wiener; 



