THE LORIES. 167 



and rolling about and playfully biting their owner's 

 fingers. 



If kept in a cage, therefore, this should be as large as 

 possible ; and the bird should be let out to have its bath, 

 of which it is very fond. Fits are the chief cause of 

 death among these birds, and plenty of exercise the best 

 preventive. No sour food should be given under any 

 circumstances. On the whole a big aviary where other 

 strong soft food-eaters are kept is the best place for 

 Lories. Many species are imported into India, but here 

 we can only notice two, both of the green-backed 

 sharp-tailed group known as Lorikeets or Loriquets. 



The tiny short-tailed Bat-Parrots (Loriculus) are called 

 Loriquets in the Fauna of British India ; but this is not 

 correct, as the birds although feeding in the same way, 

 have not brush-tongues, and do not belong to the Lory 

 family. Moreover, since a Parrot with a sharp tail is 

 called a Parakeet, the corresponding term Lorikeet 

 ought surely to be restricted to the sharp-tailed Lories. 

 The term Bat-Parrot is also an excellent name for the 

 Loriculi, as these birds are unique in sleeping hung up 

 by one foot, like the Bats among beasts. 



FORSTEN'S LORIKEET (Trichoglossus forsteni)* This 

 species, a native of the island of Sumbawa, was, in my 

 time, about the most numerously imported Lory in 

 Calcutta. The figure (Fig. 1) and brief description on 

 Plate VII will give a sufficient idea of it ; a band across 

 the belly is purple as well as the head, and the pale collai 

 is of a light shade of green. Cock and hen are alike, 

 and the young are, I believe, similar. This handsome 



