174 Parrots gP Parakeets 



Unlike others of their tribe, they can hop from 

 one twig to another as well as climb, and when on 

 the ground they proceed by a series of rapid hops. 



A pair of lories together, such as the Australian 

 blue mountain, the scaly lorikeet, Forsten's, &c., play 

 together like two kittens, rolling over and over each 

 other, puffing themselves out, fluttering their extended 

 wings, hanging downwards from their perch, and per- 

 forming a variety of entertaining gymnastics. 



In spite of their extremely tropical appearance, and 

 their native homes in New Zealand and the islands of 

 the Pacific Ocean, some of the lories are extremely 

 hardy, and will live in an unheated outdoor aviary all 

 the year round, with only canary seed and a certain 

 amount of green food and fruit as an addition or 

 change in their diet. Forsten's lory is a gorgeous 

 bird, with a rich green back, wings, and tail, a purple 

 mask to his face, a yellow collar round his neck, and 

 a flaming blood-red chemisette. 



Gorgeous, but unsafe with other birds. 



I kept a pair in an aviary on the Chiltern Hills, 

 where the snow and the rain beat down, and no lory 

 could have been in more brilliant plumage or finer 

 condition in Sumbawa itself, the island of the South 

 Seas from which these birds had come. 



Indeed their condition was far healthier, and their 

 feathers more sleek, than when they were caged with- 

 in the house. 



Like everything else, they prospered better in fresh 

 air, and were not, like many human beings, afraid 

 of it. 



