THE LORIES. 89 



Honey is the chief means of his subsistence, and 

 he is always in search of it. 



His tongue is not like the tongue of the Parrot, 

 for it is used in a different manner. He does not 

 want a great fleshy organ to assist in holding and 

 cracking nuts. He does not eat nuts. He wants 

 a light, brush-like tongue, covered with bristles to 

 sweep off the honey ; and therefore Nature has 

 given him one. Not any of the Parrot tribe 

 are possessed of the tongue of the Lorikeet, for it 

 would be useless to them. 



The Lorikeet leads a very happy life among the 

 honied sweets that surround him. Many deli- 

 cious blossoms abound on every hand. Here are 

 orange-groves in their full beauty, and the scarlet 

 flowers of the pomegranate display their stores. 

 But the Lorikeet delights in those flowers which 

 grow on the tallest trees ; and there are numbers 

 of these to be found. 



There is the mighty gum-tree, the giant of the 

 country, that grows to an immense height. And 

 there is the peppermint-tree, which, at the proper 

 season, is a mass of blossom. Then myriads of 



