THE LORIES AND LORIKEETS. 173 



difficulty whicli the Dutch had at first in bringing the bristled- 

 tongued Parrots, and especially this species, alive to Europe. 



The Ceram Lory is scarlet, with a splendid metallic lustre, 

 and a triangular spot of deep lemon.yellow, set in green, upon 

 the upper part of the back ; the quills are green on the outer 

 side, vermilion on the inner, about one-third, towards the point, 

 black ; the secondaries are black on the inner side, only 

 being red at the base ; the large upper coverts are olive-green ; 

 the bend of the wing lemon-yellow ; the small coverts of the 

 wing on the reverse side are also yellow ; the tail is red, dark 

 green at the tip ; on the reverse side purplish-brown, and dull 

 yellow at the end ; all the under part of the body is uniform 

 red, save that it is green about the thigh ; the beak and the 

 bare skin round it orange-red ; the skin on the nose bluish- 

 grey ; eyes yellowish-brown, inclining to reddish-yellow ; a bluish- 

 red featherless circle round the eye ; feet greyish-black ; claws 

 black. In this species also there appear variations, as the spot on 

 the shoulder extends more or less, sometimes is a dull red, and 

 is sometimes wanting ; the tail green, shaded off to a bluish- 

 black or quite blue. Size, nearly as large as the Black-bonnet 

 Lory (length, lOjin. to llin. ; wings, o^^in. to 6|-in. ; tail, S^-in. 

 to 4in.). It is a native of the north-easterly Moluccas. 



Its rarity in the trade, in spite of the wide extent of its 

 habitat, and the frequency with which it is stolen from the nest 

 and brought up by hand, probably arises from the fact that it is 

 a great favourite with the natives themselves, and often kept 

 and traded in. The opinions of the more modern amateurs and 

 bird connoisseurs will not in the meantime be the less inte- 

 resting. 



One of the most eminent among them, Mr. E. von Schlech- 

 tendal, pronounced this species to be one of the worst of 

 screamers, and of no great capability ; but this judgment is 

 opposed to that of Mr. A. E. Blaauw, who thus remarks: 

 " Some years ago, I had a Ceram Lory which displayed consider- 

 able talent. First of all, it imitated all sounds which struck its 

 fancy, learnt to say many words, and repeated them with a 

 gentle voice, and, one might say, almost with comprehension, so 

 fittingly did it apply them. It loved me passionately, and would 

 become enraged if any stranger touched me while it sat on my 

 shoulder. It would dash at the person, and bite and scream so 

 that I had some difficulty in soothing it again. It could dis- 

 tinguish quite well whether the stranger touched my person, my 



