GLOSSOFSITTACUS. 49 



C3-en-u.s <3-I_i0330^=Sn?T.A.0'U"3, Ii.n,.,iparfe. 



Giossopsittacus concinnus. 



MUSK LORIK'EET. 



I'silhicini ('oiici>ii/)i_-i, .Sliaw, Nat. Misfl., pi. S7 (1701). 



'J'ric/ioij/ngsns ruiti'iiniu.'-; (ioulil, lids. Austr., fol. Vol. V., pi. .")2 (1548). 



(-UnysiijisiUa anstratia, (Joulij, llandliU. Bds. Austr., Vol. ![., p. 100 (l.SOo). 



Cloiisiipsitldc.us (■(iiiritDiiis, '^■,\\\:ii\., Ki-A.t. Bds. I'.i-it Mils., Vol. .K.K., p. 110 (ISOl) ; Sharpe, Hand-1. 

 Bds., Vol. li., p. (J (lOilO); Salvad., Hiis. l'.ii).">, p 422. 



Adult male. — <li>.iiijra! colour ahoce and /nloip i/mis-i/ri/'ii .■ fori'linad and fiitr-corertK brviht red: 

 cro/rn and sidi's of t/if In'/id nuis/ipd iiHtli bhif: ffiitlmrK of the. fore, part of th.<- clieek.i nnfred iritli 

 hrtylit hlnis/i-(/reen : li nid iiirk on.d inh'nii-'ipidur rnjion o/irr-liro>i'n : prniinrirs and sri-oudories 

 h/(ickixh-broii:n, f/reeii 071 f/ieir on/er irehs mid ftps, e.rrept on tlo' onternmst pirunari/, n-hic/i is bnt 

 narron-Jy edged ivitli ijreen ; on lln' tidi k nf tin' breasl nn irriynlarli/'uliaped patch of bright ye.lloii- : 

 ii.jider snrfacc of the tail irnslied n'itli iplltnc, /jaxex of the, inner irebs of the fmr o^iterniost feathers 

 on either side red : bill blaektsli-liron-n, elninging into rrddisliorange nl the tip : feet pale i/elluirish- 

 yrei) : iris orange. Total length in tlie jle^li ,'/ inelie.i, /ring .'>, tail ■!'/', bill t)-ii, tarsns ()■'>.',. 



Adult FKM.^LE. — Similar in plnnioge to the niaJe. 



I )iitrihutioi! — (Uieensland, New South Wales, X'ictotia, South .\ustralia, Tasmania. 



^ |(^1 1 Li raii'^e ol the .Musk Lorikeet extends throughout the greater portion of Eastern 

 -L .\ustralia, and it is likewist:: found in Tasmania. It is more freely distributed in the 

 coastal districts, and chiefly haunts the forests of flowering Eucalypts. In the summer and 

 autumn months it is usually without exception the commonest species of any member of the 

 Order Psittaci occurring near Sydney, althougti I ha\e never myself found it, or heard of its 

 breeding in the vicinity. Its appearance is greatly governed by the food supply, and in some 

 seasons it is far more abundant than others, and it is more connnon in the western suburbs of 

 Sydney than it is close to the coast. When living at Dobroyde, .-\shfield, in i88g, large flocks 

 used to fly over from February to the middle of .\pril, fairly higli in the air, resembling in 

 form a wave or the spray left on a long beach by a receding wave. These flock's were about 

 three hundred yards in width, and three or four birds deep, and were travelling from the south- 

 west to the north-east, and were prcjbably a quarter of a mile apart. They could be seen 

 at almost any time of the day, from early morning until nearly sunset. Numbers of these birds 

 were allured and caught by means of a captive call-bird in a cage and a snare pole. The trap 

 consists of a long pole about twenty feet long, which is placed in a socket, and has at the top 

 one or two thin forked limbs, which fairly bristled with horse-hair nooses. A pulley is usually 

 attached, so that the cage containing the call or decoy bird can be lowered as required. Three 

 seasons in particular during ni)' residence in Ashtield and Canterbury the Musk Lorikeets were 

 unusually numerous, from the end of January to the middle of .\pril, i88g, 1893 and 1896. 

 From my note-book I make the following extract of one season : — •' i8th March, 1893 • — For 'h^ 

 past five weeks large flocks of Glossopsittacits coucinnits have been passing over Ashfield and all the 

 western suburbs, thousands of which have been caught by means of snare poles. It seems 

 strange that these birds, when once they alight on one of these poles, repeatedly come back until 

 they are eventually entangled in one of the many horse-hair nooses with which the forked 

 extremity of the snare pole is covered. These poles may be seen as one passes through from 

 Parramatta to Petersham, even from the window of a railway carriage, and are usually erected 



13 



