24 
THE PAEHOT TRIBES. 
being barred with the same, margined with dusky purple. The 
beak is a deep ruddy orange, and the long drooping tail-feathers 
are green and gold. 
The Purple -capped Lory. — The lory may be distinguished 
from the rest of the parrot family by the peculiar formation 
of his beak. It is altogether straighter, sharper, and more 
slender than that of either the parrot or parrakeet. 
The lory tribe is not a small one, but he of the purple hood 
must be regarded as its chief. His size is that of an ordinary 
pigeon. The ground colour of his body is the most gorgeous 
scarlet, and round his neck he wears a semicircle of burnished 
gold. The thigh feathers are sky-blue ; the wings, the dazzling 
green of the emerald margined with violet ; and from the eyes 
over to the nape of the neck, extends the purple cap from which 
he takes his name. After reading this description, it will be 
easy enough to understand how the lory in question maintains 
his reputation for beauty. The worst of it is, he is very high- 
priced. A handsome purple-capped lory, evincing anything like 
an inclination to speak, is worth, in the parrot market, from 
live to ten guineas. The purple-capped is the most capable of 
all the lories. He has a more melodious voice than any other 
parrot, and speedily learns how to articulate words and even 
sentences seven or eight words long. His imitative powers are 
brought into play on every occasion; he is a clever ventrilo- 
quist, and will draw corks, do the clicking of a meat-jack, or the 
sound of water gurgling through a pipe in a wonderful way. He 
is not, however, a long-lived bird. A sudden change from hot to 
cold weather is enough to bring your lory to death’s door in the 
space of a few hours ; therefore a genial and unvarying at- 
mosphere is of the first importance in the management of this 
bird. 
The Australian Lory. — This genus, instead of having the 
prevailing colours of its plumage of that brilliant red that 
distinguishes the Indian birds of this order, has a ground 
colour of green. In shape, the Australian differs from the true 
lory in many respects. The wings are sharper and nearly red 
in colour, and the tail longer and narrower. Although, how- 
ever, it is in appearance so different from its Indian relations, 
its leading characteristics are such as to place its proper classi- 
fication beyond dispute. It has the same rough pencil-tipped 
tongue, and the nature of its food is precisely similar, the 
soft outer portions of fruit, and not the seeds and kernels (as 
is the case with the parrots proper), forming its staple food. 
