350 



THU FEATHERED TRIBES. 



is thus cliaractcrised : — bill subflongate, compressed, weak, the inferior mandible slightly 

 convex, longer than high, narrowed towards the tip, with the margiiis thin and entire ; 

 inner surface of the projecting tip of the upper mandible smooth, or but slightly striated, 

 tongue furnished near the tip with a pencil of bristly papillro ; wings of moderate length, 

 narrow, the first quill longest, the second and third a trifle shorter, the webs entire ; 

 feet, the tarsi short, featliered below the joint ; toes strong, with the soles broad and 

 extended ; the claws greatly falcated, strong, and sharp ; tail graduated, with the feathers 

 narrowing towards the point. The members of this genus are birds of elegant form, and 

 some exhibit a great variety and elegance of plumage ; they are strictly arboreal and 

 scansorial, as indicated by the form and strength of their feet and claws. In the qualitj^ 

 of their food and the structure of their tongue, they show their typical station in the 

 Tonuirostral tribe, their principal nutriment being derived from the nectar of flowers ; 

 thej' also eat or suck the juices of the soft or exterior portion of various fruits, but do 

 not attempt the kernels or actual seeds, which constitute the general and favourite 

 pabulum of the rest of the Psittacida;. In their contour, and the indications of a nuchal 

 collar which several of the species possess, we also trace a resemblance to the parrakects, 

 or genus Palcvornis, Vigors ; and this analogy we might expect to find, if, as we suppose, 

 the parrakeets in their own circle constitute the Tenuirostral tj^e. In the present 

 genus, we are also induced to retain the orange-winged parrot of authors (Psiffaciis 

 2iyn'hopterus), for which bird Mr. Vigors instituted the genus Brotogerin, as we cannot 

 observe any character of sufficient importance to warrant a generic sejxaration, the only 

 difference seeming to be a slight elongation of the tip of the upper mandible ; but this is 

 rendered less abrupt by the intervention of another species, the Trichof/hssiis 2Mbnarum, 

 in which it is of a size intermediate between that of Trir/i. chlorokpidofus, T. Swainsonii, 

 &c., and that of Trick, jii/rr/wpfcriis. 



swainson's lorikeet.* 



The present bird, so far as it is yet known, is almost exclusively an inhabitant of the 

 south-eastern portion of the Australian continent, lying between South Australia and 

 Moreton Bay ; " at least," saj's Mr. Gould, " I have never heard of its existence in any 

 part westward of the formei', or northward of the latter. It also occurs in A^an Diemen's 

 Land, but its visits to that island do not appear to be either regular or frequent. 



" The 'flowers of the various species of Eiicnli/pti furnish this bird with an abundant 

 supply of food, and so exclusively is it confined to the forests composed of those trees, 

 that I do not recollect to have met with it in any other. It also evinces a preference for 

 those that are covered with newly-expanded blossoms, which afford them the greatest 

 sujiph' of nectarine juice and pollen, upon which they principally subsist. However 

 graphically it might be described, I scarcely believe it possible to convey an idea of a 

 forest of flowering gums tenanted by several species of the Trichoglossi McUpha(ji, &c. ; 

 three or four species being froqucntlj' seen on the same tree, and often simultaneously 

 attacking the same branch. The incessant din produced by their thousand voices, and 

 the screaming notes they emit, when a flock of either species simultaneously leave the 

 trees for some other part of the forest, baffles all description, and must be seen and heard 

 to be fully comprelicnded. So intent are the Trklmjlom, for some time after sunrise, 

 upon extracting their honey-food, that they are not easily alarmed, or made to quit the 

 trees on which they are feeding. The report of a gun discharged immediately beneath 

 them has no other effect than to elicit an extra scream, or cause Ihcm <o mo\(> to a neigh- 

 bouring branch, where they again recommence, with all tlie avidity possible, creeping 



• Trichon-loftKus SwniiiHoliii, 



