40 BLUE MOUNTAIN LORY. 



lie closely together; tlie under wing coverts are vermilion red; the claws 

 are strong and hooked, and the tarsi rather short, indicating arboreal 

 habits, and in fact the Blue Mountain seldom descends to the ground, 

 but passes the greater part of its life among the gum-trees (Eucalypti), 

 upon the pollen and nectar of which it principally subsists; but in 

 times of scarcity it will also eat grass-seeds, and is never averse to a 

 little insect food, for want of which, we believe, it often dies prema- 

 turely in captivity. 



Dr. Russ mentions that a pair which were obtained from a London 

 dealer in 1870 for two hundred and ten marks (ten guineas), were the 

 first of these birds that were imported, but the London Zoological 

 Society had obtained some of them two years previously, in 1868; for 

 a long time, however, they remained at a high price, and even now a 

 pair will fetch £3 in the bird-market, though occasionally an odd speci- 

 men, the mate of which has died, may be picked up for a much less 

 sum. 



Beautiful although he most undoubtedly is, the Blue Mountain Lory 

 is not an encouraging bird to keep, for, although the odds against his 

 living are not quite so high as Mr. Gedney would make it appear 

 (100 to 1), he requires some amount of care and attention to preserve 

 him in health for any length of time. Mr. Wiener, however, does not 

 consider him either delicate or difficult to keep; and Dr. Russ gives 

 the names of four German amateurs who have successfully bred him. 

 Notwithstanding all this testimony in his favour, we warn amateurs to 

 beware of the Blue Mountain Lory: dealers will tell them that he can 

 be kept without the least trouble on a diet of seed only: so he can 

 — for a time; but after a while he will be found dead on the floor 

 of his cage or aviary some morning — cause, a fit, the result of con- 

 stipation from deprivation, for too lengthened a period, of his favourite 

 food, pollen and nectar, not forgetting the insects of which, in his 

 wild state, he pretty frequently partakes. 



Dr. Russ recommends the following diet: — "Canary- seed, millet, hemp, 

 and oats, with ' egg-bread ', boiled rice, fresh or soaked ants' eggs, 

 sweet ripe fruit, cherries, berries of different kinds, grapes, dates, figs, 

 etc." 



Mr. Wiener's bill of fare is very similar: "I would advise", says this 

 gentleman, "to feed these birds on a mixture of canary-seed, oats, 

 millet, Indian corn, and hemp-seed, giving daily in addition either a 

 piece of sponge-cake, a little sweetened boiled rice, a couple of dates 

 or figs, or some ripe fresh fruit." 



The same author speaking of a female Blue Mountain Lory, formerly 

 in his possession, and which, after passing from his hands, survived 



