ANCIENT COCKATOO.

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 1233, 27 August 1929, Page 4

ANCIENT COCKATOO.

BELIEVED AGED 12U.,

A contemporary of "Cocky" Bennett, the fainouß cockatoo at. Tom ■ Ugly's Point, Sydney, which, died a. , few years ago, has been discovered m - England. This bird, which was oorn , m Australia three years before Napoleon's retreat from Moscow m JLBI2, has probably seen more generations , come and go and heard more dialects ■ spoken than anyone m the world. s Unlike "Cocky" Bennett :in tiic latters, extreme old age, it has not yet begun to lose its feathers— that is — permanently and it still has a bealtiful sulphur-coloured breast. ■ Cocky lives at Amersham m Surrey. The date, of its- arrival from Australia is not known, but it is possible that' he heard the church, bells "%inging after the victory at Waterloo, and saw the soldiers returning. ; — - The local legend is that he^was brought from Australia as a preseilt for W sailor's sweetheart, and after the \couple married was the pride of the family for many years. He has been handed down from generation to generation, . and his present home is the warmest corner m the' kitchen of \ a local inn. His 'owner attributes his great age to the facf that 1 he lives mainly on monkey nuts. "Cocky" 'Bennett, of Sydney, was well over the century when he died. In fact, one historian declares that he met Captain Cook on nis arrival m Australia with the remark: "Captain Cook," I presume 1" .« .