P A 11 K O T. 



in 



whereas that of the lories is soft and downy, ex- 

 cepting on the wings and their coverts. The clothing 

 plumage of birds is t'.ir from the worst index to their 

 general habit. A bird of gentle labour always has 

 the plumage of the soft and downy character, whereas 

 one which has to rotih it, whether in field or forest, 

 or in the sky, invariably lias the individual feathers 

 firmly set. This bird is a native of the eastern 

 islands, of which it is one of the principal winged 

 ornaments. Its size is about the same as that of the 

 grey parrot, namely, between ten and eleven inches 

 in length. The bill, which is not very large, and has 

 no notch in the upper mandible, is yellowish orange, 

 with a blackish cere at the base, in which the nostrils 

 are pierced ; the feet are dark grey, and the claws 

 black. The head is flat on the crown, and occupied 

 as far as the eyes, but not over them, by the cap. 

 This cap is very dark purple at the base of the bill ; 

 but passes gradually into very delicate violet, as it 

 approaches the back of the head. The general plu- 

 mage of the body is a very fine red, intermediate be- 

 tween scarlet and crimson, with the exception of a 

 gorget'of pale reddish yellow, in the form of a crescent, 

 betwee'n the throat and breast ; but this gorget is very 

 obscure in some of the specimens. The external 

 margins of the quills and the lesser coverts of the 

 wings are deep blue, passing into sky-blue. The 

 others are yellowish green relieved with lighter. The 

 primary quills are beautiful blue, and the secondaries 

 yellowish green ; but, when seen at a little distance, 

 the whole wing has a green appearance, which, being 

 the complemental colour of the red on the body, 

 makes both show oft' to the greatest possible advan- 

 tage. The feathers on the tibia? are sage-green. The 

 tail, which is rather large and firm, has its extremity 

 formed into a very perfect half-oval. The tips of the 

 feathers are reddish orange ; within that there is a 

 crescent of deep brown, almost black, and the re- 

 maining part of the feathers is nearly the same red 

 as the body, only a little more inclining to purplish 

 brown. The female bird is less in size than the male ; 

 the gorget is obscure or wanting ; and there is no 

 blue in the wings, except a slight mottling along with 

 green on the margins. Sometimes, however, this 

 species breaks into coloured varieties. 



It is one of the best-tempered and most desirable 

 of all the parrot tribe ; but it is very delicate, difficult 

 to be brought alive to Europe, and, therefore, scarce 

 as a living bird. It never uses its bill in any work of 

 destruction ; and it is remarkably docile, and highly 

 susceptible of every species of kindly attention. 

 " Lory " is its habitual cry, in the use of which it is by 

 no means sparing ; and it also articulates tolerably 

 well, though in a hollow voice ; but it whistles with 

 great clearness, and very readily acquires a knowledge 

 of any tune. As its voice, though very incessant, is 

 not so loud as that of the parrot, it is a very desira- 

 ble bird for those who are fond of amusing themselves 

 with such creatures ; but, in consequence of its deli- 

 cacy, it is high priced, and a good deal of care is 

 necessary in order to keep it alive in European 

 climates. 



Ceram Lory (P. garni hs). It is probable that 

 this species obtains its trivial name from having been 

 first brought from the island of Ceram. It is not, 

 however, confined tj that island ; for it is found in 

 others of the Molucco group, and probably through 

 the Oriental Island-;. In si/.o it very much resembles 

 the species lust mentioned, namely, lhat of a common 



pigeon ; and its manners and delicacy of constitution 

 are nearly the same. It is, however, subject to very 

 considerable varieties of colour, oil which account it 

 is in danger of being described as several species. 

 The following are the colours which most frequently 

 occur : the bill orange, the cere and naked circle 

 round the eyes grey, the irides deep yellow, and the 

 feet brown. The clothing plumage is bright red ; 

 but the lesser coverts of the wings are mottled with 

 green and yellow. The primary quills are deep green 

 on the outer webs, red on the inner webs, and grey 

 at the tips. The two centre feathers of the tail have 

 three colours : brown at the base, red in the middle, 

 and green at the tips. The next pair have more 

 than half the length from the base red, and the re- 

 mainder green ; and the four external ones, on each 

 side, are red at their bases, violet in the middle, and 

 green at the tips. Except in colour, this bird re- 

 sembles the former species very nearly ; and its dis- 

 position is also very much the same. < 



Black-capcd Lory (P. Lory}. This species has 

 usually been brought from a more northerly lati- 

 tude than either of the two preceding ones, namely, 

 from the Philippine Islands ; but whether it is merely 

 a climatal variety of the purple-cap, or a distinct 

 species, has not been very clearly ascertained. In 

 Europe it is a very rare bird, and is on that account 

 highly prized ; but its disposition and manners do 

 not appear to be either better or worse than those 

 which we have already mentioned. Its colours are, 

 however, different from either of these ; and, though 

 they are subject to some variety in different species, 

 the following may be taken as the most common : 

 the bill and irides orange, and the cere and circle 

 round the eyes dark flesh colour ; the feet black, 

 and the cap on the head bluish black ; the general 

 plumage of the body scarlet, but with a blue spot at 

 the setting on of the neck, and another at the lower 

 part of the breast. The general colour of the upper 

 surface of the wings is green ; but the inner webs of 

 the quills are yellow, passing into dark brow n toward 

 the tips ; and some of the secondary quills have yel- 

 low margins to both webs. The under coverts of 

 the wings are red. The tail is blue on the upper 

 side, with the exception of the two middle feathers, 

 which are dark green ; and the under side of the tail 

 is yellowish. The feathers on the tibiae and those on 

 the under parts, backwards, are bright blue. The 

 colours of this bird are remarkably beautiful ; but we 

 know nothing of its manners farther than we do of 

 those of the section generally. 



Papuan Lory (P. Papuoisu). This is one of the 

 most elegant birds of the whole parrot tribe, both in 

 the form and in the colours of its plumage. In the 

 structure of the bill and tongue, and also in the gene- 

 ral red colour of the clothing plumage of its body, it 

 resembles the lories to which we have already 

 alluded ; but the form of the body is much more 

 elegant, and the tail is particularly handsome. The 

 whole length is nearly eighteen incho?, of which the 

 two middle feathers of the tail measure about twelve, 

 leaving not more than six for the length of the body. 

 Those long feathers are narrow, and rounded at their 

 tips ; and the remaining feathers of the tail, five on 

 each side, are so graduated, as, with the exception of 

 the two long ones, to make the outline of the extre- 

 mity of the tail but very elongated hall-oval. The 

 longest of these feathers are not above one-third the 

 length of the two middle ones ; and the lateral ones 



