The LEMON-CRESTED COCKATOO (_Cacatua galerita_) is known by its white
colour (which in some specimens presents the appearance of having had a
delicate red breathed upon it), and by its perfectly shaped tuft, formed
of two rows of long and slender feathers, that can be raised or lowered
at pleasure. This long tuft or crest, the wings, and the inner web of the
tail-feathers are of a pale brimstone colour at the root. The eye is deep
brown, the beak black, and the foot greyish brown. The length of this
species is about one foot four inches.
We are at present uncertain whether this bird is spread over Van Diemen's
Land, as well as over the whole of Australia and New Holland, or whether
those countries are inhabited by different species of very similar
plumage. A careful examination of the Cockatoos most abounding in those
three regions has shown a decided difference in the construction of the
beak, and justifies the last-mentioned opinion. According to Gould, the
Lemon-crested Cockatoo is common to all the Australian settlements except
those to the west. These birds live in flocks of hundreds and thousands,
much preferring open plains, or slightly wooded districts, to the forests
near the coast.