218 



FOEEIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



captivity they should be fed like the Lories and 

 Lorikeets. 



At one time these birds were supposed to be related 

 to the Lories, but the absence of fringes or brushes to 

 the tongue at once distinguishes them. 



The species of this genus range from India and the 

 Philippines, through the Malay Archipelago, eastward 

 to Duke of York Island and the Papuan sub-region. 



VERNAL HANGING PARRAKEET (Loriculus vernalis). 



Green, slightly tinged with orange on upper back; 

 jump and upper tail-coverts red ; nights verditer-blue 

 -on inner webs ; head brighter green ; a bluish patch on 

 the throat ; upper breast with a yellowish tinge ; beak 

 dull coral-red, tipped with yellow ; cere red ; feet pale 

 orange ; claws pinkish horn-coloured ; eyelids yellowish ; 

 irides pale yellowish-white. Female of a yellower green 

 than the male, the head not so bright, the blue of the 

 .throat nearly or quite absent. Hab., " India, and from 

 Sikhim through the Indo-Burmese countries to the 

 Malay Peninsula, Andaman, and perhaps also the 

 Nicobar Islands." ( Salvador!.; 



Jerdon says ("Birds of India," Vol. I., pp. 265, 

 266) : " I have found this species in open spaces of the 

 forests in Malabai*, occasionally coming into well-wooded 

 .gardens near the coast. It is most numerous in Travan- 

 core and South Malabar, becoming rarer towards the 

 Jiorth. Mr. Elliot, however, mentions it as visiting 

 Dharwar, above the Ghats, during the rains only. It 

 is found in small flocks, and keeps up a continual 

 chirping when feeding, which it does on fruit and 

 flower buds, partly probably for the nectar contained in 

 the latter. It is said to be fond of the toddy of the 

 cocoanut palm, and to be sometimes taken stupified at 

 the toddy-pots ; and I have had them brought me alive 

 at Tellicherry, said to have been taken in that situa- 

 tion." 



I quote the following from Hume's " Nests and Eggs 

 of Indian Birds," Second Edition, Vol. III., pp. 92- 

 '93 : " Mr. Davison says : ' On April 19, while re- 

 turning to Ross from Port Mouat, a Burman convict, 

 who was with me, saw a bird of this species fly into a 

 nole in the branch of a forest tree growing by the road 

 side. He called my attention to this, and I sent him 

 up the tree. On his climbing up he found the bird 

 (which he caught and brought down with him) sitting 

 on three round white eggs. The hole was about 20 ft. 

 from the ground, and contained no lining or attempt at 

 a nest, the eggs being laid on some soft, black earthy-look- 

 ing powder that lay at the bottom of the hole, and which 

 had evidently fallen from the top and sides of the 

 nole. The hole, which was a natural one (not excavated 

 by the bird), was moderately large, but not quite large 

 -enough to admit the convict's hand without a little 

 cutting away at its lower edge." 



"The eggs above referred to are very broad and 

 obtuse-ended ovals, in colour dirty white, and en- 

 tirely glossless. They vary from 0.7 to 0.75 in. in 

 length, and from 0.58 to 0.6 in. in breadth." 



According to Hume, this species " lays from three to 

 'five eggs, from March to May, in holes and hollows of 

 trees, without any nest." 



" Mr. J. Inglis, writing of this species in Cachar, 

 says : ' The Indian Loriquet is rather common ; it 

 breeds on the hills about April. It is often found 

 sucking honey from a large red flower in March, when 

 as many as four or five can sometimes be killed at a 

 shot. It flies at a great pace, but is not in the least 

 shy." 



_ Russ says that this bird " sings charmingly ; call r.ote 

 like tsooTcitt, also gentle whispering like the whispering 



of mice ; flight easy and noiseless ; it loves fresh twigs, 

 but not from thorn trees ; not delicate ; keeps sprightly 

 and tight in feather in an unheated room in the cool 

 days of spring." 



The Vernal Hanging Parrakeet is rarely imported, 

 and is not mentioned in the ninth edition of the London 

 Zoological Society's list. 



Russ says that in 1873 he received a male of L. 

 pusillus, which unfortunately died soon afterwards. 

 It comes from Java. 



GOLDEN-BACKED HANGING PARRAKEET. 

 (Loriculus chrysonotus). 



Green r nape and upper back golden-yellow, the 

 former with an orange spot in the middle, and the 

 latter tinged with orange ; sides of lower back tinged 

 with blue ; rump and upper tail-coverts red ; flights 

 and tail above dark green, the former with blue inner 

 webs, the latter with pale tip ; forehead red ; remainder 

 of crown golden-yellow ; sides of head and neck grass- 

 green ; a large orange-red patch on the throat ; tail 

 below blue, with pale-gi'een tip ; beak orange-red ; feet 

 orange ; irides brown. Female smaller, with a blue 

 tinge on front of cheeks and throat, no red patch on 

 the latter ; the yellow on head and nape less bright ; 

 the blue on sides of lower back paler ; her beak is also 

 longer, more arched, and rather broader at base. Hab., 

 Cebu, Philippine Islands. 



I have not come across any field notes dealing with 

 this species. A pair was purchased by the London 

 Zoological Society in April, 1871, and these went to 

 nest and hatched a young one on Aug. 23 following ; 

 but no details are given in the Society's Proceedings. 

 Another specimen was purchased in the year following 

 from Dr. Meyer, who states that numbers are taken 

 by the natives from the nest and reared. 



CEYLONESE HANGING PARRAKEET (Loriculus indicus). 



The general colouring of both sexes is green, paler 

 below than above, the crown, rump, and upper tail- 

 coverts red, the nape and mantle washed with orange ; 

 lores, cheeks, chin, and throat bluish, inner webs of 

 flights and under surface of tail greenish blue ; beak 

 orange-red, the tip and lower mandible paler ; cere 

 yellow ; feet dull yellow ; iris white. The female is 

 smaller than the male, and her beak is shorter, more 

 arched, and broader at base. Hab., Ceylon. 



In the young the forehead is greenish grey, shading 

 into orange behind, mantle almost pure green, cheeks 

 without bluish tinge, throat very slightly bluish. 



Colonel Legge says of this bird : " The Ceylou 

 Lorikeet frequents woods, detached groves of trees, 

 compounds, native gardens, patnas dotted with timber ; 

 and, in fact, any locality which is clothed with fruit- 

 bearing trees or those whose flowers afford it its 

 favourite saccharine food. It is a most gluttonous 

 little bird, constantly on the wing in active search for 

 its food, darting with a very swift flight through the 

 woods, uttering its sibilant little scream, its bright 

 plumage flashing in the rays of the tropical sun. _ When 

 it reaches a tree which attracts its attention it 

 instantly checks its headlong progress, and, alighting 

 on the top, actively climbs to the fruit which it has 

 espied, or, should the tree prove barren, after giving 

 out its call-note for a short time, darts off, perhaps in 

 the opposite direction from which it came. It is exces- 

 sively fond of the ' toddy ' or juice which exists in 

 the Kitool or sugar-palm (Caryota urens), and feeds on 

 it to such an extent that it becomes stupefied and falls 

 an easy captive to the natives, who cage it in large 

 numbers for sale at Point de Galle. 



