THE WARBLING GRASS PARROQUET. BIRDS. THE PAPUAN LORY. 



377 



scratching gently amongst the plumage of each other's 

 heads, and not unfrequently feeding each other. Hence 

 they have disputed the title of Love-birds with a 

 diminutive short-tailed species of parrot, to which that 

 name has long been applied. 



During the heat of the day the Grass ParroquetS 

 perch in flocks upon the branches of the gum trees, and 

 there shelter themselves from the scorching rays of the 

 sun ; they sit so motionless, and their colour assimi- 

 lates so well with that of the leaves, that, according to 



The Warbling Grass Parroquet (Melopsittacus nndulatus). 



Mr. Gould, they can hardly be distinguished. They 

 breed in the holes and hollow spouts of the gum trees 

 in the month of December. 



THE COLLABED LOEY (Lorius domicella}. Several 

 small species of this family, which inhabit the Eastern 

 islands and Polynesia, are commonly called Lories. 

 The characters upon which they are separated from 

 the rest of the family consist principally in the com- 

 parative weakness of the bill, and the peculiar structure 

 of the tongue, which, instead of terminating in a soft 

 fleshy cushion, is slender, and furnished with elongated 

 papillae, the latter sometimes even forming a sort of 

 brush at the extremity of the organ. These birds live 

 partly upon pulpy fruits and partly upon the sweet 

 juices of flowers ; in collecting the latter the papillae 

 of the tongue come into use. The largest of these is 

 the Collared Lory, a native of many of the Eastern 

 islands, and also of continental India, which measures 

 eleven inches in length, and is of a bright scarlet, with 

 the wings green, the shoulders and legs blue, and the 

 crown of the head blue-black. A broad yellow band, 

 more or less tinged with red, crosses the upper part of 

 the breast, and the feathers of the short rounded tail 

 are tipped with yellow, within which there is a blackish 

 band. This bird is highly esteemed as a cage bird, 

 not only on account of the beauty of its plumage, but also 



for its docility and liveliness, and the distinctness with 

 which it learns to utter words and even sentences. 



THE PAPUAN LOEY (Ckarmosynapapua), one of the 

 most beautiful of these birds, and indeed of the whole 

 family of Parrots, is also of a scarlet colour, but richly 

 variegated with azure-blue, yellow, and green. The 

 crown of the head bears two blue spots, and the whole 

 lower part of the back and the legs are also blue. 

 Each side exhibits two spots of rich yellow, and the 

 wings are green. The tail is long and graduated, and 

 the two centre feathers are much longer than any of 

 the rest ; hi fact, these feathers alone measure eleven 

 or twelve inches in length, whilst the actual body of 

 the bird is only six inches long. The tail-feathers are 

 all green at the base, and yellow at the extremity. 

 This most beautiful species is a native of New Guinea. 



THE BLUE -BELLIED LOEIKEET (Trichoglossu* 

 Ticematodes} is a native of Australia, where it abounds 

 amongst the Eucalypti, and feeds daintily upon the 

 nectar of their flowers. It is about thirteen inches in 

 total length, the tail measuring six inches ; the head 

 and throat are bluish-purple ; the neck bears a collar 

 of yellowish-green, and the rest of the upper plumage 

 is bright grass-green ; the front of the neck and breast 

 are bright scarlet, becoming yellow on the sides of the 

 latter ; the abdomen is deep purple, and the legs scar- 



Sa 



