BLUE-BELLIED LORIKEET. 
and brighter head coloration. He added : “ It seems curious that the marked 
difference in size between northern and southern specimens of T. novae , - 
hollandice should have been (as far as I am aware) overlooked. Since these 
notes were in type, Mr. Hartert has observed in his article ‘On the Birds of 
Cape York ’ {Novit. Zool., VI., p. 428, 1899) that specimens before him from 
that locality are smaller and brighter coloured.” As measurements he gave: 
wing 140-144 mm., tail 113-123 mm., as against typical birds, wing 153-163, 
tail 140-163 mm. 
In the Ibis , 1900, p. 642, Robinson and Laverock added : “ The northern 
representative of this common Australian Lory can readily be distinguished 
sub specifically by its smaller size and by the brighter and purer blue of the 
head and abdominal patch. Some of the numerous specimens received from 
Mount Sapphire and Bellenden Ker agree very fairly with the original specimens 
from Cooktown, while others approach the typical form more nearly as far 
as coloration is concerned, but all are distinctly smaller in dimensions. One 
specimen from Cooktown is remarkable for having the tail composed of 
fourteen feathers, and not the normal number of twelve. Iris red ; feet 
black ; bill red (Olive).” 
In the Emu, Vol. IX., p. 83, 1909, Hall recorded “ Variation in 
Trichoglossus Vig. and Hors.” as follows : 
“ Some time ago I purchased in one parcel 60 skins of what appeared to 
be T. septentrionalis subsp. Robinson. They were labelled ‘ Southern Queens- 
land.’ . . . Salvadori, writing of the species, says : ‘ Breast yellow, more or 
less stained with red along the middle, sometimes almost entirely red except 
on the sides.’ My skins show : 
“ (a) The young (six specimens) exhibit a nearly uniform yellow breast, 
with a small proportion of red upon the central area. 
“ ( b ) Certain of the fully adult specimens show the sides to be red also ; 
a vestige of yellow upon one. 
“ (c) Ten specimens show uniform red breasts, with a very small 
proportion of yellow upon the sides of the neck. 
“ ( d ) As the bird matures, the breast red becomes separated from the 
abdominal blue by a clearly defined horizontal line. Only 7 per 
cent, of the specimens show this stage of development. 
“ (e) The depth of colour on the occiput varies considerably between a 
light violet or violet brown to a deep violet and blue. This 
appears as much in the adult as in the young birds. 
“ (/) The abdominal blue in 20 skins is dull, mostly lustreless. In 20 
others it is full of lustre. No dates are upon the skins to indicate 
23 
