

N. Wharton-Tigar—Notes from the London Zoo 97


Ganga Cockatoo (Callocorydon fimbriata) from New South Wales.

Soft grey is the prevailing colour; the hen plucks the cock, and has

deprived him of his strange top-knot!


Then there is the Great Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (K. galerita),

Australia, and the Triton (Cacatua triton) from New Guinea, differing

only in having blue skin round the eye ; and the Great White-crested

Cockatoo ( K . alba) from the Island of Halnaheira, all white ; and a

pair of the Kose-crested Cockatoo (. K . moluccensis) from Ceram ; one

of these is delightfully tame and friendly.


Now we come to the most beautiful of all, a pair of Leadbeater’s

Cockatoos ( K . leadbeateri), from Australia. White and pale pink

below, with a salmon-red crest, not much larger than the Lesser Sulphur-

crested. Not far from these is the rarest Parrot in the collection, a

tiny Macaw, the Gold-necked (Ara aureicollis), brought from East

Bolivia by Mr. Walter Goodfellow, the famous collector, when on

Government duty there during the War years. He was in the wilds

indeed, for it was a month’s ride to the nearest telegraph office, a

clearing in a great forest district, and these small Macaws came in

hundreds to some water holes there, from May to September, when

they disappeared. This bird has been seventeen years in the collection,

and is housed for company with a home-bred Illiger’s Macaw, so common

in Brazil (Ara maracana ), and next to them is an example of A. nobilis,

also from Brazil.


Among the Amazon Parrots I admired the Green-cheeked Parrot

(Amazona viridigen), bright green with vivid green cheeks, red fore¬

head extending well back on top of the head. A patch of purple

behind the eye. Near by is the Yellow-faced Parrot (Amazona xanthops),

Central Brazil, grey green with yellow head and cheeks, yellow below,

and yellowish eye, whitish beak. Then follow two examples of the

very handsome Levaillant’s (Amazona levaillanti), South America.


The Zoo have an example of the Imperial Parrot (Amazona im¬

perials) from the South of Dominica, a huge Parrot with the head,

neck, and breast a wonderful dark reddish plum, the back green ;

this is a very tame bird now showing signs of age.


There is also a very fine pair of Guilding’s Parrot (Amazonaguildingi),

very large and handsome, in shades of yellow, orange, brown, and blue,



