BLUE-BELLIED LORIKEET. 175 



Mr Lear's beautiful and accurate figure renders 

 it almost unnecessary to give a description of the 

 plumage; but as the bird has so frequently been con- 

 founded with two other species, it may perhaps be 

 satisfactory to some of our readers to give it in de- 

 tail. Length about 13 inches, of the tail alone 6 

 inches ; bill, in the dead bird, pale saffron yellow, in 

 the living-, inclining to orange ; head and throat of 

 a fine bluish-purple, the feathers rigid and subulate, 

 upon the lower part of the throat they are more in- 

 clined to lavender purple, and lose the rigid and su- 

 bulate character ; nuchal collar yellowish or vivid silken 

 green ; lower neck and breast bright vermilion-red, 

 passing on the sides of the breast into rich king's yel- 

 low; middle of abdomen of a deep imperial purple, 

 the feathers towards the sides vermilion, tipped with 

 vivid green ; hypochondria green, the basal part of 

 the feathers varied with vermilion and yellow; tibial 

 feathers vermilion-red ; under tail-coverts, with the 

 base of the feathers, red, the middle part yellow, the 

 tips green ; under wing-coverts rich vermilion-red ; 

 margin of the wings and all the upper plumage bright 

 grass-green ; the feathers upon the lower part of the 

 back of the neck with their bases vermilion, margin- 

 ed with yellow ; tail with the four middle feathers 

 entirely green, the remainder of the lateral feathers 

 with part of the inner web rich yellow, increasing in 

 extent to the outermost, where the whole of the web, 

 with the exception of a small spot at the tip, is of 

 that colour quills with the inner webs dusky, and 



