The Blue Mountain Lorikeet. 215 



The Blue Mountain Loriheet. 



In The Eimt for July 1917. \ol. 17. pa.i^e 13, appeared a 

 most interestiiiij;' account of tlie above species in a semi-wild 

 state, by Messrs. Campbell and Barnard, the well known Austra- 

 lian ornitholoi^ists, in their article entitled Hinis of North 

 Oitee)ishiiul. It interested me so much that I thou.i^ht it a pity 

 that the meml)ers of llie Foreign Bird Club who are not mem- 

 bers of the Royal Australian Ornitholoi^ists' Union should be 

 deprived of the pleasure of reading- it. I therefore have copied 

 out the paragraphs referring" to this well known Brush-tongued 

 Lorikeet and I hope in so doing I am in no way infringing on 

 the copyright of the authors, and if so I trust they will accept 

 my apologies. 



T RIL HOG LOSSUS SEPT ENTKI ON ALLS. 

 NORTHERN BLUE-BELLIED LOR! K1-:I':T. 

 " A common bird on the coastal country and the table-land, feeding in 

 tile Howering eucalyptus, chietly the so-called " blue gum " (E. teretlcornis) 

 in llie former locality and the poplar-leaved gum (E. platyphylla) in the 

 latter. These Lorikeets were also fond of fossicking the red " bottle- 

 brushes "of the CnllislciJions that llouered bv the streams." 



the flowering eucalyptus ch'efly, the so-called " blue gum " (E. tereticornis) 

 the hollows of the trees. They appear to use hollows to repose in as well as 

 to breed. Off and on during the night you can hear the birds " talking " 

 in their hollows, when to sleep, instead of perching, as do most other birds, 

 they lie down or coil up, resting their heads on the inside bottom of the hole. 

 This we judged by analogy by seeing pet birds sleep on the bottom of their 

 cages instead of on perches." 



" Whether about a home or in the bush wilds, the " Blue Mountain 

 Parrot " is a great favourite. We were fortunate in observing a tame 

 bird, in shining plumage, at " Fringford." One wing was clipped, but by 

 the aid of bill and claws it climbed everywhere in the house, and outside to 

 the tops of trees, where it would cackle in imitation of the fowls, and make 

 other extraordinary calls. The bird was four year^ old, and was brought in 

 by the blacks from its nest and reared by Mrs. Butler." 



" Regarding " Blue Mountains " in the bush, there is a remarkable 

 picture by Mr. E. M. Cornwall in The Emu (vol. x. pi. xij shewing Mrs. 

 Innes, of Pratolina, near Mackay, surrounded by a feathered crowd of her 

 bush pets." * 



" Mr. T. R. Gardiner told us of a similar experience which he had 

 when in charge of the telegraph station in the Walsh River, North Queens- 

 land, 1891 — 1905. The surrounding timber was chieiiy " box " and blood- 

 wood (eucalypts). At first Mr. Gardiner had a young caged bird that enticed 



