138 GREAT SALMON-CRESTED COCKATOO. 



Perhaps, however, on the whole it is better to make the creature's 

 acquaintance for the first time when it is in the former mood, for 

 the sudden discovery that the beautiful possessor of that entrancing 

 voice can transform itself at will into a shrieking fiend, is almost too 

 distressing to be borne with equanimity ; and the latter phase of its 

 character comes like a pleasant surprise upon the owner, who had only 

 known his acquisition by its demonical yells, and had already meditated 

 the wringing of its neck, notwithstanding the beauty of its coat, in 

 the fear that he himself might be rendered stone deaf, or at least be 

 summoned by one of his neighbours as a public nuisance. 



Yes, the great Moluccan Cockatoo has its drawbacks we admit ; but 

 what a truly magnificent creature it is when in perfect plumage, and 

 how gentle and loveable it can be when kindly treated and made 

 much of. 



Surpassing in size of body the largest of the Macaws, and covered 

 with feathers that remind one of childhood in the country and rasp- 

 berries and cream, it is no wonder this monarch of the Cockatoo 

 race has had admirers from the earliest day of its importation into 

 Europe, almost a couple of centuries ago, as well as enemies that 

 cannot say a good word for it, and in whose eyes its merits are out- 

 weighed by its faults; which very often, if not always, are the result 

 of wrong treatment and ignorance of its habits and requirements. 



As we have said, it is a large bird, measuring seventeen or eighteen 

 inches in length, of which the tail occupies about six; the wings are 

 each about a foot long, and very powerful, so that the bird when wild 

 has great capacity for flight; often soaring at such an elevation that 

 it is invisible to the naked eye, although its piercing cries are distinctly 

 audible, as it flies to and fro between its feeding and its sleeping 

 grounds. 



White, tinged with pale rose red, is the prevailing colour of the 

 plumage, which in a perfect specimen is powdered copiously with a 

 substance resembling French chalk in appearance, that adds a wonderful 

 lustre to the coat. The crest, which is about six inches in length, 

 lies down the back of the head and upper part of the neck, and is 

 scarcely noticed until the bird, getting excited from whatever cause, 

 lifts it up and displays not only the length and width of the plumes 

 that compose it, but their beautiful ruddy orange tint. The side tail 

 feathers have their inner webs a pale primrose yellow, from base to 

 centre, the remaining portion, as well as the central pair, being white. 

 The beak is bluish black, the circle of the eyes pearl grey, and the 

 eyes themselves deep hazel, although some individuals have them of 

 a darker shade than others, and these may be the males. Dr. Karl 



