49 



jri-^oloured 

 or Slack-Capped Hory. 



Psittacus Lori, vel Lory. 



Synonyms: Psittacus atricapillus , Gml.; P. exquisitus Loeri dictus, Sb.; 



Ara moluccensis varia, Bp.; Lorius tricolor, Gr.; 



Lorius Philijopensis, Bess.; Domicella Lory, Wgl. 



German: Der Frauenlori, Rss. 



French: Perruche Lori des Dames, Been. 



T I THIS exquisite bird, also called the Black-capped and Philippine 

 -L Lory, has long been known to naturalists, and prized by amateurs. 

 It was described by Edwards in 1751, and ten years later by Linngeus, 

 while Bechstein, towards the close of the eighteenth century, gave it 

 a place in his Natural History of Gage Birds, in which he speaks of 

 it in the following terms : — "The Black-capped Lory is still more scarce 

 in Europe than the preceding (the Purple-capped Lory, P. domicella), 

 therefore it is dearer, but appears to possess all its good qualities/' 

 which, our readers may recollect, are not a few; as duly recorded in 

 our account of the latter bird in our first volume. 



The subject of the present notice is a native of the northern parts 

 of New Guinea and the adjacent islands, where it subsists for the most 

 part on the nectar of the myriad flowers that make for the botanist 

 an earthly Paradise of that mysterious region, and for which boiled 

 rice, well sweetened with Demarara sugar, forms but an indifferent 

 substitute, so that one is not surprised to find that its life in captivity 

 is not a very long one, however merry it may seem to be; and certainly 

 few birds appear to take such genuine pleasure in being noticed and 

 made much of by their master or mistress as the Black-capped Lory, 

 for it rivals the Hawk-headed Parrots in this respect; which is speaking 

 volumes for its amiability and general good character. 



