260 The Bird 



forming a slender tube. The glory of the Great Crowned 

 Pigeon is a maze of lavender lacework, one of the most 

 beautiful of all crests; while the most graceful, perhaps, 

 is the mist of filmy whiteness which, at the slightest breath 

 of air, floats about the neck of the Snowy Egret, like 

 the mantilla of a senorita. Cockatoos are decorated 

 with a profusion of beautiful crests, each characteristic. 

 These are under the complete control of the birds, and 

 take an important part in expressing changing moods 

 and emotions. The crests may lie so flat as to be ordi- 

 narily invisible, when, in a flash, the whole head is sur- 

 mounted by an auricle of colour or whiteness. An ex- 

 cited Leadbeater Cockatoo is a wonderful sight. Before 

 the crest is raised, all that is visible is a single, rather 

 elongated white feather, but a wealth of colour is hid- 

 den, which flares out, showing a band of scarlet close to 

 the head, next a streak of bright yellow, then a second 

 band of red, and finally the white tips of the crest feathers. 

 The nod or jerk of the head in spreading wide the crest 

 reminds one of the sudden flick with which a fan is thrown 

 open. 



Concealed crests bring to mind the Kingbird and the 

 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, both of which derive their names 

 from their crowns of ruby. It is said that the former 

 bird is aided in its search for food by the bright spot 

 of colour which, flower-like when exposed, attracts in- 

 sects. This, however, should be confirmed before being 

 accepted as a fact; although in a tropical flycatcher, 

 which has a beautiful red and purple transverse crest, the 

 evidence of this novel use seems fairly well corroborated. 



