LORIES. 



131 



webs ; tail above red towards base, purple tinged with 

 greenish on distal half ; crown and back of head black ; 

 back of abdomen, tibiae, and under tail-coverts purple ; 

 under wing-coverts and base of tail below red, distal 



portion golden-olivaceous ; beak orange-red ; cere yel- 

 lowish-white ; feet blackish ; irides scarlet to brown. 

 Female not differentiated. Hab., " Louisiade Archi- 

 pelago, New Guinea and East Cape, New Ireland, New 

 Britain, and New Hanover." (Salvadori.) 



I have been unable_to discover any notes on the wild 

 life of this species. In captivity it is said to be lively, 



PURPLE-CAPPED 'LORY, 



excitable, but not nervous ; its cry is not a whistle, but 

 rather a hissing, like that of a goose ; it is a clever 

 bird. Miss Hagenbeck has imported it on several 

 occasions, and Russ thinks it may have been not infre- 

 quently imported and sold as Lorius lory. 



THREE-COLOURED LORY (Lorius lory). 

 Red ; a paler band below the back of head, and some- 

 times a second across the interscapular region ; back of 

 neck, continuous with the breast, and interscapular 

 region, blue ; wings green ; some of the coverts and 

 inner flights washed with 

 golden-olivaceous ; the base 

 of inner webs of flights 

 yellow ; tail above deep red 

 at base, greenish in the 

 middle, deep blue on distal 

 half ; crown and back of 

 head black ; centre of abdo- 

 men, tibise, and under tail- 

 coverts bright blue ; under 

 wing- co verts red ; tail below 

 bright red at base, golden- 

 olivaceous towards tip ; beak 

 red ; cere dull yellow ; feet 

 black ; irides yellowish-red 

 to brown. Female rather 

 narrower in the skull, the 

 beak distinctly narrower. 

 Hab., " North-western New 

 Guinea, Salwatty, Batanta, 

 Waigiou, and Mysol." 

 (Salvadori.) 



I have discovered no notes 

 respecting the wild life, but 

 Dr. Guillemard ("Proceed- 

 ings of the Zoological So- 

 ciety," 1885, p. 621) says : 

 " Iris light yellow in the 

 adult, yellowish-brown in 

 immature birds. Bill bright 

 orange-red; tarsus black." 

 "This species was found to 

 be extremely abundant in 

 Waigiou." 



With respect to its be- 

 haviour in captivity, Dr. 

 Russ says that it has been 

 "known and beloved from 

 of old." "According to 

 Dr. Meyer, it is abundantly 

 kept in New Guinea, and 

 learns to speak excellently. 

 A female in Dr. Scheuba's 

 possession was uncommonly 

 companionable and confid- 

 ing, gave kisses, allowed 

 itself to be cuddled and 

 played with like a kitten, 

 often whistling with plea- 

 sure ; but occasionally, even 

 at night, it piped sharply 

 and shrilly ; spoke tolerably 

 often, preferably in the 

 evening, in a deep tone, also 

 made attempts at imitating 

 songs." 



Other writers have spoken 

 favourably of the ability of 

 this Parrot, Dr. Finsch 

 alone being inclined to scep- 

 ticism on this point. 



