440 



REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



Cockatoos have tails of medium length, cheeks feathered, and 

 head surmounted by a white, yellow, or pink tuft, which they can 

 raise and lower at will. They are the largest among the race of 

 Parrots of the old continent. They inhabit the Indies and the isles 

 of Oceania, and are pretty, graceful, docile, and caressing, but are 

 indifferent talkers. One very remarkable species of this group is 

 the Microglossum aterrimum, called by Levaillant the " Macaw with 

 the trumpet," from the formation of its tongue, which is cylindrical 

 and terminated by a little gland slightly hollowed at the extremity. 



When this bird has reduced into fragments by the help of its jaws 

 the kernels of the fruits which form its nourishment, it seizes the 

 pieces by means of the hollow which terminates the tongue, and, 

 having tried the flavour, projects the trumpet in front, and makes it 

 pass to the palate, which has the function of causing it to fall into 

 the throat. This curious mechanism was disclosed by Levaillant. 



The Great White Cockatoo ( Cacatua cristatus) is a remarkably 

 handsome bird, but does not produce more admiration than Lead- 

 beater's Cockatoo (Cacatua Leadbeateri, Fig. 169). 



Toucans. 

 The characteristic of the birds which compose the family of 



