96 
PARROTS. 
The Lories and Loriquets. 
Family LORIIDjE. 
Although agreeing with the nestors in the general structure of their beaks, the 
beautiful birds known as lories and loriquets, of which there are several genera, 
differ by the tongue being furnished with a kind of brush instead of a fringe, and 
also by the middle of the upper mandible being devoid of a groove. The beak, 
which is much compressed and 
generally longer than deep, has 
no notch; and the cere decreases 
in width from the middle line of 
the head to the sides of the 
beak. There is great variation 
in the length of the tail, but it is 
generally shorter, although 
occasionally longer than the 
wing; while in form it may be 
either graduated or rounded. 
The wings are sharply pointed 
(acute), and generally have the 
first three feathers the longest. 
Although unrepresented in New Zealand, the members of the family are confined 
to the Australasian region, inclusive of Polynesia. They comprise upwards of 
fourteen genera, of which only a few can be noticed in this work; the dimensions 
of the species varying from those of a turtle-dove to little more than those of a 
sparrow. There is one genus ( Oreopsittacus ), represented in New Guinea, in 
which the tail has fourteen feathers, and thereby differs from that of all the 
other parrots. 
We select as our first example of the family the well-known 
True Lories. _ . r . 
purple-capped lory (Lomus domicella), from Ceram and Amboyna, 
which is the typical representative of the genus to which it belongs. All the 
members of this genus—ten in number—are characterised by the tail being of 
moderate length and rounded, with the two middle feathers longer than the others. 
The bill is orange-red, thus distinguishing the group from the black lory and its 
allies ( Chalcopsittacus ), where it is black; while the green wings serve to 
differentiate these parrots from the blue-necked lory, and the other members 
of the genus Eos, in which there is a considerable amount of red on the wings. 
The purple-capped lory measures about a foot in total length, a third of which is 
taken up by the tail. It is a gorgeously-hued bird, the general ground-colour of 
the plumage being scarlet, while the breast is adorned with a gorget of gold; the 
wings are green, with blue at the bend and on the under-coverts; and the tail is 
red, with a band at the tip, which is dark purple-red above and golden-red below. 
The feature from which the species takes its popular name is the deep purple 
cap on the head, which is often of so dark a tint as in some lights to appear almost 
black. 
