66 BLUE-BREASTED LORY. 



kinds of Parrots and Cockatoos, the males preferring the society of 

 ladies, and the females of men. 



As might be surmised from their scarceness, the price of the Blue- 

 breasted Lories is a high one. £4 or £5 is that demanded by the 

 London dealers ; but Dr. Euss gives from sixty-five marks for a single 

 bird, to one hundred and twenty marks for a pair; as the figure at 

 which they can, or could be, obtained in Berlin. In another place he 

 says from ninety to one hundred marks each. 



These birds, it is said, differ considerably in size, though as a rule 

 one of them is about as large as the Purple-cap Lory; but Herr Scheuba 

 mentions that he had one that was scarcely half as big. It may, 

 possibly, have been a young one ; but as it did not survive very long, 

 this point could not be determined. 



Dr. Euss gives the length of an adult specimen at from twenty-six 

 to twenty-seven centimetres, which is a little less than the measurements 

 given by the same author of the Purple-cap, whose length is stated 

 to be from twenty-nine to thirty centimetres, with a length of wing of 

 from fifteen to seventeen centimetres; but the Blue-breast has the 

 longest tail, eleven to twelve centimetres, while that of the Purple-cap 

 is said to be from nine to eleven. Comparing two of these birds, we 

 have found very little difference in point of size, or as regards the 

 length of the tail or wings ; and the small- sized birds are most probably 

 immature. 



