THE



2S7



Hvicultural fllbagasnte,


BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE


AVICU LTURAL SOCIETY.



New Series. —VOL. I. — No. 9 .—All rights reserved. JULY, 1903.



THE VARIED LORIKEET.


Plilosclcra versicolor.


By Reginald Phillipps.


At page 114 of the current Volume of the Avicultural

Magazine, our Honorary Editor introduced this pretty little

Lorikeet to our Members.


It was on, or very shortly before, the 15th November last

that about nine supposed pairs reached London. It seems likely,

but I do not know, that they came from the continent, as, writing

from Florence on the 4th of the same 111011th, the Contessa

Baldelli informed me that some had been offered to her by an

Italian dealer. It is a little humiliating that the honour of first

bringing living examples of this interesting species from Aus¬

tralia does not fall to the Britisher, and that only the “ remnants ”

should have come to us. Whatever the exact circumstances of

the case may have been, the fact remains that they were 011 sale

on the continent before they reached this country.


It was 011 the 15th November that two “ pairs ” were

offered to me, two of the birds having red crowns, the other two

only the red frontal band. It was supposed that the red-crowned

specimens were the males, and the others females ; but, if I

mistake not, the latter are immature, the former mature, birds

whether male or female, the red crown being a sign of maturity

not of sex. I selected two of the birds, and believe I have a

true pair, but the red-crowned bird is the female and the other the

male.



