THE COCKATOOS.
COCKATOOS.
COCKATOOS.
COCKATOOS.
These Birds are very handsome members of the Parrot family, especially the ones that are crowned with very full tufts of feathers about the head. Some have the head entirely surmounted by a white, yellow or pink tuft, which they can raise or lower at will. Their tails are short, and their cheeks feathered. They are the largest among the race of Parrots of the old continent. They inhabit the Indies; and, although they are pretty, graceful, and very docile and caressing when tamed, they do not talk so well as some of the other Parrots.
There is one remarkable species of the Cockatoos, sometimes called the Trumpet Cockatoo, because of the formation of the tongue. This is cylindrical and terminated by a little gland slightly hollowed at the end. In eating, this Bird takes the kernels of the fruits which form its food, crushes them by the help of its jaws, then seizes the food by means of the hollow which terminates the tongue, projects the trumpet in front, and makes it pass to the palate which causes it to fall into the throat. As this peculiarity of the trumpet-like tongue has never been noticed in any other Bird, it has made this species quite as noted as the Great White Cockatoo, and Leadbeater’s Cockatoo, which have long been known as the handsomest species of this family.