BLUE-BREASTED LORY. 55 



provided for it there, are questions we must leave the intending purchaser 

 of one of these birds to decide for himself; for even the fact of a 

 Lory having been imported does not entirely exculpate the buyer 

 from complicity in its premature death. If there were no demand for 

 these birds, the dealers would soon cease to bring them over, for they 

 are costly, and £4 or £5 too much to be risked on a chance. 



Considering the rarity of these Lories in Europe, it is not surprising 

 that no attempts have so far been made to breed them in captivity, 

 nor is it likely, considering the brief tenure of life they appear to 

 possess when brought among us, that success in this direction will 

 ever be attained, at least in England. In the sunny south of France, 

 or Italy, it is possible the birds might live, and even increase and 

 multiply; while at the Cape, or in Australia, they would probably, in 

 a suitably constructed aviary, " turn their thoughts to love," and a 

 continuation of the species. 



As they are mostly reared from the nest by the natives of the 

 Moluccas, they are usually very tame when passed over to the dealers' 

 agents; but unfortunately the greater number die on the voyage to 

 Europe, and it is only the very few, blessed with exceptionally fine 

 constitutions, that survive the change of climate and of food; but the 

 very fact that some so survive, gives the dealers encouragement to 

 persevere with their importation. 



In a few instances the captive Blue-breasted Lory has been induced 

 to eat seed, hemp, spray millet, or canary seed, and an individual of 

 the species, in the possession of Herr Director Scheuba, partook freely 

 of the first, to which it helped itself ""regularly at eleven o'clock at 

 night, although the room was in total darkness.'" 



This habit, that is of taking food in the night, always indicates one 

 of two things, either the bird is insufficiently fed, whether in regard 

 to quantity or quality, or it is suffering from indigestion. If from the 

 first cause, a more liberal dietary will soon cause it to abandon a 

 custom that is not only unnatural, but very prejudicial to the bird's 

 health; but if it is suffering from indigestion, the case becomes more 

 serious, and must be treated on its merits ; for the causes of the malady 

 are so diverse, that no fixed rule for treatment can be laid down. 



Concerning one of these birds, Dr. Meyer writes : " For a long time 

 we had a Blue-breasted Lory, that was brought by a friend from Siao. 

 It accompanied us to Corontalo, Makassar, and to Singapore, and after- 

 wards to Manilla, soon after which it died. It was exceedingly tame ; 

 was very affectionate towards my wife, and liked to be near her, but 

 was always unfriendly with me"; a differentiation of sex on the part 

 of the bird that we have remarked in more than one instance in several 



