on the Varied Lorikeet.



289



probably I cannot do better than quote the descriptions given at

p. 67 of Vol. XX. of the British Museum Catalogue of Birds :—


“ Adult male. Green, with yellow-green streaks nearly all

over the body, more yellowish on the underside ; crown and lores

red ; ear-coverts and a band on the occiput yellowish green ;

cheeks and a collar on the nape bluish; breast vinous red,

brighter 011 the sides; quills underneath blackish; inner web

and underside of the tail-feathers yellowish green ; bill red, cere

and naked space round the eyes greenish white ; feet light ash-

grey ; iris brown. Total length S inches, wing 4-80, tail 3, bill

o - 6o, tarsus o‘45.


“ Immature bird. Differs from the adult in being smaller,

paler, and in having the red on the crown confined to the fore¬

head ; the rest of the crown is greenish blue with yellow streaks.


“ Young. Pale dull green, with scarcely any streaks ; the

forehead pale red.


“ Hab. Northern and Western Australia.”


And when to the above I shall have added Mr. Campbell’s

remarks ( Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds, p. 595), which are

very scant} 7 ,1 shall have exhausted my limited stock of knowledge

of the species :—


“ Geographical Distribution. —Nortli-w r est Australia, Nor¬

thern Territory, and North Queensland.


“ Nest and Eggs. —Uudescribed.


“ Observations. —This delightful Lorikeet flies in flocks in

the forest of Northern Australia, where Gilbert first observed it

flashing on the topmost flowering branches of the eucalypts and

melaleucas. It may be readily distinguished from all the other

Lorikeets by the narrow stripe of yellow down the centre of the

feathers of the plumage, and the rich, red crown of the head.


“ These Lorikeets are said to breed in the hollow limbs of

trees on the margin of the Margaret River, North-west Aus¬

tralia.”


I11 the latest number of the Emu, at p. 218, a correspondent

contributes a delightful peep at these little fellows in the Aus-



