W. C. Osman Hill—Breeding of Mitchell’s Lorikeet



227



gradually being lost till the adult condition is attained. The iris

is uniformly dark, as in the young female.


In conclusion I should add that the breeding of Eclectus seems to

be a continuous process once having begun. As soon as one baby

leaves the nest the mother proceeds to deposit another egg and to

commence its incubation. She has no resting period between broods.

It may even occur, though I have not proved this, that eggs are laid •

before the previous brood has left the nest, so that the latter assist

in the incubation of the next brood.



BREEDING OF MITCHELL’S LORIKEET

{TRICHOGLOSSUS MITCHELL !, G. R Gray)


IN CAPTIVITY


By W. C. Osman Hill, M.D.


Mitchell’s Lorikeet ( Trichoglossus mitchelli G. B. Gray) is one of

the rarer Streaked-headed Lories and is believed to come from Lombok,

thus being the most westerly of the whole family in its distribution.

Specimens are not often come across in captivity, and, as far as I can

gather, it does not appear to have been bred ; hence my putting on

record the following details.


I commenced with six birds of this species, purchased on board a

ship in Colombo harbour in April and May, 1932. They were put into a

large flight cage with some Swainson’s Lorikeets ( T . moluccanus ),

but neither they, nor the Swainson’s, had made any efforts to nest till

1937. By this time the Mitchell’s had dwindled to a single pair, having

been killed off, one at a time, by injuries from other birds or from

unknown causes. The last two, however, were suspected to be a true

pair on account of their behaviour, and the presumed male was note¬

worthy for his deeper scarlet chest. For a period during early 1937

they were the sole occupants of the aviary and the female made several

ineffectual attempts at nesting in hollowed stems of coco-nut palms, the

centre of which had begun to go rotten, so that she was able to excavate

quite a long tunnel. All the efforts came to nought and, as no further



