THE LORIES AND LORIQUETS 1863 



brilliant purplish blue, the nape of the neck greenish yellow, the abdomen blue, and 

 the remainder of the body, together with the upper surface of the wings and tail, 

 green. The under tail coverts are yellow at the base and green at the tip, while 

 the under wing coverts are red. A yellow tip characterizes the red bill, and the 

 feet are slaty gray. This handsome bird is an inhabitant of East Australia, rang- 

 ing from Cape York to Victoria, and is likewise found in Tasmania. By the colo- 

 nists it is commonly termed either the Blue mountain lory, or the Blue mountaineer. 

 L,ike its allies, it is almost exclusively a honeysucker, and so much honey do they 

 gather, that when shot, as Professor Moseley tells us, it is quite common to see this 

 fluid streaming out of their beaks. They generally associate in small flocks, and 

 during their flight utter loud screaming cries. During their migrations, according 

 to the " Old Bushman," they may, however, congregate in immense numbers, and 

 may then be seen flying at great heights. With regard to these periodical move- 

 ments the same observer writes that these birds are ' ' migrants to and from dif- 

 ferent districts, and their migrations are regulated by the state of the blossoms of 

 the gums and honeysuckles upon which they feed; not that they ever entirely left 

 our forests, for I rarely at any time went out without seeing a pair or so. But the 

 large flocks of them only come at such times as the trees are full of honey, and 

 depart as suddenly as they come. They are always in larger or smaller flocks, do not 

 associate with the other parrots, and are never seen feeding on the ground. ' ' The 

 female lays from three to four eggs, and in their first plumage the young have the 

 breast yellow, with scarcely any tinge of red, while the band on the nape of the 

 neck is scarcely visible. In captivity this parrot is by no means a desirable species, 

 since it is exceedingly noisy and very difficult to keep for long. In this state it will 

 eat insects and seeds, as well as honey and syrup. 



A f k P r t ^^ e -A-rf ak parrot ( Oreopsittacus arfaki) already referred to as hav- 

 ing fourteen tail feathers, is a native of the Arfak mountains in New 

 Guinea, and only measures six inches in length. The general color is dark green, 

 with the cheeks and ear coverts blue, a tinge of red on the abdomen, the tail feath- 

 ers black, with red tips, and the beak black. 



Family C TCL OPS ITT A CID^E 



Two genera of parrots from Australia, New Guinea, and the Eastern Malayan 

 islands, known as Neopsittacus and Cyclopsittacus, are regarded by Count Salvador! 

 as indicating a distinct family of the order allied to the lories. While agreeing 

 with the two preceding families in having the under surface of the hook of the bill 

 nearly smooth, they differ in that the bill is deeper than long, and much swollen on 

 the sides, the profile of the symphysis of the lower mandible being highly convex. 

 In these respects these parrots serve to connect the lories with the following families. 

 The nature of the tongue is unfortunately still unknown. Perhaps the best-known 

 representative of the group is the iris parrot (A 7 ", iris) from the island of Timor 

 a small, green parrot, measuring seven and three-fourths inches in length, with a 

 yellow-orange bill. There is but one other species of this genus (A 7 , musschenbroeki} , 



