142 
CAGE AND SlxTGING BIRDS, 
shape when erected like a miissel-sliell ; wlien depressed it 
can scarcely be seen ; this is sulphur-coloured at the base 
and white at the top, and two or three of the under feathers 
being- of a bright red gives it a tri-coloured appearance. 
The white plumage of this bird has here and there a dash 
of sulphur, and the whole of the belly is red, together with 
the under-tail feathers. The other cockatoos, of which we 
have spoken, generally come to Europe from the Moluccas ^ 
this is most usually brought from the Philippines; it be- 
comes very tame, but does not learn to speak. It does not 
call its own name like the rest ; but shouts horribly an in- 
describable sort of sound. 
THE BANKSIAN COCKATOO 
Is the rarest and most costly, as it is also the handsomest 
of these crested birds. It is sometimes as much as 
thirty inches in length ; the prevailing colour of its 
plumage is black, the feathers being many of them edged 
and spotted with golden yellow. A portion of the tail is a 
rich crimson, which merges into orange, and is crossed hy 
five or six irregular bars of black; stripes of bright and 
dark yellow go wavering across the darker plumes like 
tongues of flame, and a spot of the same colour terminates 
each of the crest feathers. There are two or three varieties 
of this superb species, which is a native of New Holland; its 
manners resemble those of the other cockatoos, like which it 
should be treated. 
GENERAL TREATMENT OF PARROTS. 
Having thus brought our account of the various species of 
this gorgeously attired family of birds to a close, it behoves 
us to give some general directions for their treatment in 
confinement, as the rules on this head which would apply 
to most other feathered pets are scarcely applicable to them, 
they being, as it were, a class sui generis, with a nature and 
habits peculiar to themselves. 
First, then, let it be observed that they are^ with scarcely 
any exceptions, natives of tropical countries, where vegeta- 
tion is abundant and the heat intense. God made them 
with a nature fitted for such climates : they must have fruit. 
