KING PARROT OR KING LORY. 



lORY is the name of certain 

 birds, mostly from the Moluc- 

 cas and New Guinea, which 

 are remarkable for their 

 bright scarlet or crimson coloring, 

 though also applied to some others in 

 \vhich the plumage is chiefly green. 

 Much interest has been excited by the 

 discovery of Dr. A. B. Meyer that the 

 birds of this genus having a red 

 plumage are the females of those wear- 

 ing green feathers. For a time there 

 was much difference of opinion on 

 this subject, but the assertion is now 

 generally admitted. 



They are called " brush-tongued " 

 Parrots. The color of the first plumage 

 of the young is still unsettled. This 

 bird is a favorite among bird fanciers, 

 is readily tamed, and is of an affect- 

 ionate nature. It can be taught to 

 speak very creditably, and is very fond 

 of attracting the attention of strangers 

 and receiving the caresses of those 

 whom it likes. 



There are few things a parrot pre- 

 fers to nuts and the stones of various 

 fruits. Wood says he once succeeded 

 in obtaining the affections of a Parisian 

 Parrot, solely tlirough the medium of 

 peach stones which he always saved 

 for the bird and for which it regularly 

 began to gabble as soon as it saw him 

 coming. " When taken freshly from 

 the peach, " he says, " the stones a 'e 

 very acceptable to the parrot, who 

 turns them over, chuckling all the 

 while to show his satisfaction, and 

 picking all the soft parts from the deep 

 indentations in the stone." He used 

 to crack the stone before giving it to 

 the bird, when his delight knew no 

 bounds. They are fond of hot condi- 

 ments, cayenne pepper or the capsicum 

 pod. If a bird be ailing, a capsicum 

 will often set it right again. 



The parrot is one of the hardiest of 

 birds when well cared for and will live 

 to a great age. Some of these birds 



have been known to attain an age of 

 seventy years, and one seen by Vail- 

 lant had reached the patriarchal age of 

 ninety three. At sixty its memory 

 began to fail, at sixty-five the moult 

 became very irregular and the tail 

 changed to yellow. At ninety it was 

 a very decrepit creature, almost blind 

 and quite silent, having forgotten its 

 former abundant stock of words. 



A gentleman once had for many 

 years a parrot of seemingly rare intel- 

 ligence. It was his custom during the 

 summer to hang the parrot's cage in 

 front of his shop in a country village, 

 where the bird would talk and laugh 

 and cry, and condole with itself Dogs 

 were his special aversion and on occa- 

 sions when he had food to spare, he 

 would drop it out of the cage and 

 whistle long and loud for them When 

 the dogs had assembled to his satisfac- 

 tion he would suddenly scream in the 

 fiercest accents, " Get out, dogs! "' and 

 when they had scattered in alarm his 

 enjoyment of it was demonstrative. 

 This parrot's vocabulary, however, 

 was not the most refined, his master 

 having equipped him with certain 

 piratical idioms. 



According to authority, the parrot 

 owner will find the health of his pet 

 improved and its happiness promoted 

 by giving it, every now and then, 3. 

 small log or branch on which the 

 mosses and lichens are still growing. 

 Meat, fish, and other similar articles of 

 diet are given with evil effects. 



It is impossible for anyone who has 

 only seen these birds in a cage or small 

 inclosure to conceive what must be the 

 gorgeous appearance of a flock, either 

 in full flight, and performing their 

 various evolutions, under a vertical 

 sun, or sporting among the superb 

 foliage of a tropical forest which, 

 without these, and other brilliant 

 tenants, would present only a solitude 

 of luxuriant veofetation. 



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