Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/800

 784: COCKATOO caused by cultivation and high feeding ; some have topknots, others have the legs naked ; there is a dwarf variety, not larger than a pigeon ; the Turkish cock seems to differ from the bantam only in the naked legs. Many ex- tensive breeders are of opinion that the native yellow-legged fowl is as profitable as any for- eign breed ; of course they vary much, accord- ing to the mixture of varieties ; they ought to lay from 150 to 250 eggs in a year, but prob- ably, as generally kept, they do not average more than 30, and their average weight would not exceed 2 Ibs. COCKATOO, a name given to the parrots of the subfamily cacatuince, family psittacidce, from their peculiar call note or cry. The cock- atoos have the bill large, of various lengths, broad at the base, with the culmen usually much arched to the tip, which is very acute ; the wings generally rather long and pointed, the tail broad and mostly even, the tarsi short and robust and covered with small scales, and the toes unequal. They may be readily distin- guished from the other parrots by their light color, and their graduated crest and even tail ; some of the genera, however, have sombre col- ors, but none the gorgeous hues of the lories, macaws, and parrakeets. Their robust legs and strong claws indicate the rasorial or scratching propensities of the group ; and their powerful bills are able to break the stones of the hardest fruits. They are rather wild, and possess but little imitative power, seldom artic- ulating anything more than "cockatoo." The genus cacatua (Briss.), from which the sub- family is named, has the bill short and strong, hooked and acute ; the wings long, and the tail short and even. About a dozen species are found in the forests of the Moluccas and Aus- tralia, some preferring high trees near rivers and swamps, others the open plains ; they are shy and hard to approach, though their pres- ence is easily known from a distance by the loud screams from their vast flocks ; they feed on vegetable substances, seeds, nuts, tubers, and bulbous roots, which they dig up with their strong claws; they do much injury to trees by stripping off the bark of the smaller branches, cutting it into small pieces, but not using it for food ; the eggs, usually two in num- ber, are laid in the rotten portions of holes in trees, or in fissures of the rocks. This genus embraces some of the most beautiful species, of large size, of a white plumage tinged with rose color or sulphur yellow, and with large crests. Among the finest is the tricolor-crested cockatoo (C. Leadbeateri, Vigors), with a crest of scarlet, yellow, and white, of long acumi- nate feathers, with the tips directed forward, which the bird can open and shut like a fan; it is a native of Australia; the whole of the body is white, tinged with crimson on the neck, breast, sides, and under the tail and wings. The sulphur-crested cockatoo (C. sulphurea, Gmel.) resembles the last named, except that pale sulphur yellow takes the place of the red- dish tints ; it is a native of the Moluccas and other Indian islands ; from its beauty, docility, and amusing habits, it is a favorite with bird fanciers. Other species living in the Moluccas Tricolor-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua Leadbeateri). are the C. rosei-capilla (Vieill.), C. Moluccen- sis (Gmel.), and C. cristata (Linn.) ; the red- crested cockatoo, C. Philippinarum (Gmel.), a native of the Philippine islands, is also a handsome species. The genus licmetis (Wag- ler) differs from cacatua in having a bill much longer; it is peculiar to Australia, living in flocks on trees in the neighborhood of water ; the food consists of bulbous roots, which they dig up from considerable depths in the earth ; the notes are rather plaintive. Another genus peculiar to Australia is calyptorhynchus (Vig. and Horsf.), characterized by a very large and strong bill, broad at the base, and much higher than long ; the lower mandible small, dilated, and strongly emarginated at the tip ; the wings moderate, and the tail lengthened and rounded. They live in small flocks in woods near rivers, feeding on the fruit and bark of the eucalyp- tus, destroying more than they eat by cutting Banksian Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus stellata). off the smaller branches and unripe fruit; their flight is heavy and noisy ; they are very shy, and more fierce and wild than other par- rots; the eggs, two or three in number, are