LORIQUETS, 



97 



Like other lories, this species is a honey-sucker, but as the brush on its tongue 

 is less developed than in some of the other members of the family, it is capable of 

 living on other substances than honey, and is thus more easily kept in captivity. 

 Lories are generally found in small parties of half a dozen or so ; and Dr. Guillemard 

 states that in the Moluccas they may frequently be seen devouring the soft fruits 

 of various kinds of figs. They generally lay from three to four eggs on the bare 

 wood in some hollow bough; and the young leave their domicile in about six 

 weeks after the commencement of incubation. The species here figured is re- 

 markable for its gentle and affectionate disposition, as well as for its talking 



PURPLE-CAPPED LORY ( nat. size). 



powers ; for which reasons, together with the gorgeousness of its plumage, it is in 

 much request as a pet. Mr. Gedney writes that " as a ventriloquist the purple- 

 cap possesses no equal, and the manner in which he will imitate domestic sounds, 

 throwing his voice to the opposite side of the room, is perfectly startling to a 

 stranger." The black-capped, or tri-coloured lory (L. lory), from New Guinea, etc., 

 belongs to the group in which there is no yellow gorget ; it has the whole of the 

 abdomen blue, a red throat, green wings, and a black cap. 



The loriquets are smaller birds than the lories, with the tail- 

 feathers elongated and gradually tapering to a more or less acute 

 point. In the present genus, of which we take Swainson's loriquet (Trichoglossus 

 novce-hollandice) as a well-known example, the prevailing colour of the plumage, 

 VOL. iv. 7 



Loriquets. 



