104 THE SPEAKING PARROTS. 



said to build their nests, in company, in the hollows of gum- 

 trees. Travellers have given little or no account of their habits 

 in breeding. Although the lories scarcely occasion any harm 

 worth mentioning to the crops, or, at any rate, to the more 

 valuable fruits, and though, moreover, their flesh is not 

 agreeable, yet they have been greatly pursued of late years, for 

 which reason, and on account of the felling of the gum-trees, 

 they are in great part driven back, like the cockatoos, &c., 

 from the inhabited districts. Formerly the natives killed them 

 in order to ornament themselves with their heads, which they 

 strung in rows, and the settlers shot them occasionally for the 

 sake of their brilliant plumage ; they were also taken from the 

 nest in small numbers, reared by hand, and brought to market. 

 Now, however, they are taken in nets in whole flocks for export 

 to Europe. They are also frequently kept as cage birds in their 

 native countries, especially in India, and frequently chained to 

 a ring made of cocoanut shell or buffalo horn, and they are often 

 found to have such a ring attached to the foot when they arrive 

 here. 



The importation is now rapidly increasing, and, as may easily 

 be supposed, these beautiful and interesting birds have many 

 admirers. Unfortunately, there are serious hindrances to their 

 more general adoption as pets ; on the one hand is their high 

 price, and, on the other, their real or supposed delicacy of 

 habit, so that, in fact, only enthusiastic fanciers, who do not 

 scruple to provide a troublesome and expensive diet, can keep 

 them. Until a short time ago it was not thought possible to 

 preserve them alive for any length of time ; but experience has 

 shown this notion to be erroneous. Within the last ten years 

 or less, at least one species, the Blue Mountain Lory, has been 

 acclimatised in many aviaries, and bred through several genera- 

 tions. Similarly, numerous other species have proved themselves 

 very hardy in captivity if managed properly, and these have 

 been of the species which do not become accustomed to seeds, 

 but which subsist solely on fruit and soft food. 



Mr. Scheuba, head master of the Grammar School at Olmiitz, 

 ranks high among the connoisseurs and judges who have observed 

 lories, and to him chiefly we are indebted for valuable infor- 

 mation as to the peculiarities of this bird and advice as to its 

 management. I will, therefore, first quote from his works : 



The delicacy of the lories, or rather the opinion that all the 

 bristle-tongued parrots are exceedingly delicate, is due to the 



