348 THE FEATHERED TRIBES. 



strongly defined ; the colour white. The irides are hazel, the orbital skin whitish. The 

 legs and feet are of a pale tlcsh-red ; the claws dusky. The forehead, cheeks, and 

 some other parts, are of a vivid orange-red, the rest of the head and neck gamboge- 

 yellow ; the shoulder and ridge of the wings yellow, varied with spots of orange-red. 

 The upper plumage is of a fine emerald-green, with purple and blue reflexions. The 

 greater wing-coverts are deeply margined with greenish-yellow. The under plumage is 

 a fine pale siskin, or yellowish-green. The greater quills- have their outer webs bluish- 

 green, passing into bright yellow at the base. Tlic inner webs are hair brown, slightly 

 tinged with green near their tips. The tail is green, the inner webs of the lateral 

 feathers tinged with brownish red. The feathers of the tibi;i3 are yellow, passing into 

 orange at the joint. In lengtli this bird averages about fourteen inches ; in extent of 

 wings, twenty-two inches. 



Wilson says, "While parrots and parrakeets from foreign countries abound in almost 

 every street of our large cities, and become such great favourites, no attention seems to 

 have been paid to our own, which, in elegance of figure and beauty of plumage, are 

 certainly superior to many of them." 



THE CRIMSOX-FRONTEn PARR.VKEET.* 



Mr. Caley states that this bird may be observe! in large flocks sucking the Etwuli/pfi 

 flowers. He adds, that like the blue mountain parrot, it is subject to fits, which generally 

 prove fatal, but it is seldom kept alive, and that its breath, or some part about its head, 

 emits a yery sweet odour. The natives told him that this species breeds in the hollow 

 boughs of trees, scraping out the decayed mould, and making its nest of it. The eggs, 

 he informs us, are green, without spots, and the number of young two. 



THE SMALL FARRAKEET.f 



Mr. Caley observes that this bird is seen in ^•ery large flocks in the Encali/pti trees 

 when in blossom. " The natives," says he, " now and then bring in tlie young ones, but 

 they seldom live long. I had three young ones for some time, which used to huddle 

 together and give out a very pleasing note. They all died, strongly convulsed, and 

 nearly at the same time ; the limbs were as stifl" the moment life was extinct as if the 

 body had become cold. The natives tell mo that it builds in the hollow limbs of trees, 

 making no other nest than that of the decayed wood. It has four young ones. Tho 

 eggs are white, and without spot." 



THE FAPUAN LORY. J 



Another sub-family of the Psiitachho is that of the Loriana, so named from tho 

 beautiful scarlet-coloured Lories, natives of contiaontal India and its islands, and which 

 appear to constitute one of its typical forms. A difference of structure is ajiparcnt in tho 

 shape of the bill and the tongue, the former member being weaker and slenderer in its 

 proportions than in the other parrots, especially as regards the under mandible, which is 

 len'i-thened and less convex in its contour, with the tip contracted and narrow, and tho 

 cutting edges straight, and without omargination. The tongue, also, is not so thick or 

 fleshy, and the tip, instead of being smooth and soft, is rougli, and in some instances 

 furnished with a pencil of setaceous bristles. This structure is bestowed \\\Mm tliem for 



* Triohoglossus Coiicinuus. t Ti-iclioglossus Pusillus. 



} Churmnsyutt Piiimeii»is. 



