44 BLUE MOUNTAIN LORY. 



seed; and although he declared that the birds fed on soft food were 

 liable to fits, and those fed on seed were not, it seems difficult to 

 accept the statement without long and close observation. 



That Parrots have great power of changing their food, the remarkable 

 instance of the Ka-Ka {Nestor notabilis), which has become carnivorous 

 within the memory of man, proves. But what a bird can do with im- 

 punity at liberty is very different from what it can do in confinement. 

 Even the Ka-Ka itself is found at the Zoological Gardens to prefer a 

 frugivorous diet when it has a choice, and there can be no doubt that 

 the structure of the Blue Mountain's tongue points out for it a more 

 or less fluid food. Now it is very well known that the fits of which 

 aviary birds generally die are apoplectic, and it is also well known that 

 anything like obstruction is a pre-disposing cause to apoplexy. It does 

 not seem likely therefore that to give a bird, accustomed to relaxing 

 food, one which has the very opposite effect will make it less liable 

 to apoplexy. On the other hand, I must bear witness that the Blue 

 Mountains I saw eating looked the picture of robust health. Granted 

 that the seed diet is the best for them, and they at once become 

 charming birds for an aviary. Their incessant activity and amusing 

 ways, together with their extreme beauty, make them birds that it is 

 always a pleasure to watch. They also are very fond of bathing, and 

 I confess that I have a partiality to birds which tub well. 



But they are not very suited to a room. Their cries, which are 

 very ear-piercing, are pretty nearly as incessant as their movements. I 

 should think they would be capital birds to turn loose, if one had a 

 pair tame enough to start with, but I have never tried them in this 

 way, as the pair I had were not tame, though they were not timid. 



I know not whether they breed in England: they have been bred 

 in captivity at the Cape. 



As pretty nearly every bird which is caged can be taught to speak, 

 I have no doubt Blue Mountains could be, but I never have heard of 

 one which talked. 



I should perhaps add that owing to the dirty habits of my Blue 

 Mountains, combined with their noisiness, I only kept them a few months. 

 During that time they never had the sign of an ailment. 



