[Illustration: 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.