on the Varied Lorikeet.



2QI



a certain amount is taken, and sultana raisins. Of the latter

they are especially fond ; but I must add that I give the very best

sultanas I can obtain, not the dirty mixture which is all that can

be purchased from the local grocers. I am not aware that my

birds have ever touched the seed always placed in the cage for

their use.


For a time, and until after Mr. Goodchild had completed

his work, I kept my Varied Lorikeets in a small cage in my

dining-room. Then for some time they were in a four-foot

flight cage, and the change to their larger domicile was highly

beneficial to them.


A much better six-foot cage has now become available for

their use ; and, as is often the case with nervous birds, they are

much more quiet in their larger home. In the larger cage, too,

they come more boldly and frequently to the ground, on which

they run with freedom and rapidity ; but, as they run along

perches in the same way, this does not necessarily indicate that

they go freely or at all to the ground in the wild state.

Unquestionably they are active birds, running along the boughs,

climbing after the blossoms, and without the slightest hesitation

hopping or bounding from perch to perch in the ordinary course

of their movements.


Towards the end of May, the male seemed to have com¬

pleted his moult and the female to be well advanced ; but they

have moulted so gradually that, except for the change of colour

in the male, their sharp-pointed tails, and the cast feathers in the

cage, there has been nothing to indicate that they have been

moulting at all.


Judging from their moulting season, taken in connection

with the particulars furnished by Mr. Bernev, we may assume

that naturally they would breed towards November and Decem¬

ber. How this will work out in our climate, however, remains

for some aspiring would be medal winner to find out for us.



