They are readily distinguished from the other groups of the Psittacidae by their light and uniform colour, which is white generally, or tinged more or less, according to the species, with sulphur-yellow or rosered, by their peculiar-shaped crest, and by their short and even tail. The bill is massive and powerful. They are natives of Australia and the Indian isles, where they inhabit the woods and forests of those luxuriant climes. They feed upon the seeds of various trees and plants, being able, with their powerful bill, to break the stones of the hardest fruits. We are disposed to consider this the typical group of the family.

There is yet another division of the Psittacidæ, consisting of the Lories (Loriana), natives of continental India and its islands. Many of them are of great beauty and highly interesting manners; they are, however, more delicate in their nature than others of the family, and, owing to the very great difficulty of preserving them alive away from their native countries, where they are abundant, they are not often seen in Europe. The name "Lory," by which the whole are popularly designated, is, like the word

Cockatoo," the call-note of some of the species. Their principal colours are red and green. They have the general characters of the Parrots, but greatly modified in conformity with their difference of habit. The bill is still much hooked in the upper mandible, and the lower one is slightly arched in the ridge, but longer than it is deep. It is a much smaller bill in proportion than that of a Parrot, and is generally without a notch or tooth; the under side of the upper

mandible is without the strong palatal ridge and roughness which are observed in the Hard-mouthed Parrots, as they have been termed.

The tongue of the Lories is very different to that of the generality of Parrots; instead of being full and smooth at the point, it is slender, soft in its consistency, more or less covered with projecting papillæ, and sometimes these papillæ form an absolute brush at its extremity. We find a somewhat similar tongue in those birds of a different order which sip or sup the nectar of flowers, and we may conclude that such in part is the use of this structure of tongue in the Lories. The honey of flowers and the sweet juices of pulpy fruits are the substances upon which the Lories feed; and the countries which they inhabit abound greatly in such substances.

The plumage, instead of being firm and scaly, as in the Parrots, is soft and downy, excepting on the wings and their coverts, and is therefore less adapted to withstand exposure to rough usage either in the forest or the air.

One of the most beautiful species is the Papuan Lory (Pyrrhodes Papuensis); to great elegance of form this species unites a plumage of the richest description, the ground-colour of the body being of a deep but brilliant scarlet, relieved in parts with deep azure-blue, yellow, and green. The tail, or at least the two narrow central feathers greatly exceed the rest of the body in length, as they measure upwards of eleven inches, while the former does not exceed six; the lateral feathers are regularly graduated, as in the other Lories. The bill is of an

orange-red colour. The elongated tail-feathers are pale grass-green, passing towards the tips into pale yellow; the lateral have their basal half dark green, the remainder deep saffron-yellow. This lovely species is a native of Papua and other parts of New Guinea, but little is known of its history or peculiar habits.

There is a beautiful species, a native of New Holland, called the Blue-bellied Lorikeet (Trichoglossus Swainson). It is found in large flocks wherever the various species of Eucalypti abound, the flowers of those trees affording an abundant supply of food to this as well as to other species of the nectivorous Parrots. It is an inhabitant of the plains, not of hilly districts; is called War-rin by the natives, and its flesh is highly esteemed. Total length of the bird, thirteen inches, of which the tail occupies six; bill orange-yellow; head and throat of a fine bluish-purple, the feathers rigid and subulate; lower neck and breast bright vermilion-red, passing on the side of the neck into rich King's yellow; middle of abdomen of a deep imperial purple, the feathers towards the sides vermilion, tipped with vivid green; hypochondria green, the basal part of the feathers marked with vermilion and yellow; tibial feathers vermilion-red; under tailcoverts, with the base of the feathers, red, the middle part yellow, the tips green; under wing-coverts rich vermilion-red; margin of the wings and all the upper plumage bright grass-green; the feathers upon the lower part of the back of the neck, with their bases, vermilion margined with yellow; tail, with the four middle feathers, entirely green, the remainder of the

lateral feathers, with part of the inner web, rich yellow, increasing in extent to the outermost, where the whole of the web, with the exception of a small spot at the tip, is of that colour; quills, with the inner webs, dusky, and each with a large oval central spot of King's yellow, forming a broad fascia on the under side of the wings; legs and toes grey, the lateral membranes broad; the claws strong and greatly hooked.* Such is the gorgeous plumage of this splendid bird.

The Carolina Parrot (Psittacus Carolinensis) is a native of the southern districts of the United States, frequenting the low alluvial grounds along the Ohio and Mississippi, where the cockle-bur (Xanthium strumarium) grows in abundance, on the fruit of which it feeds, extricating the seeds from the prickly shells; it adds, however, grain, fruits, apples, mulberries, grapes, etc., to the bill of fare, and as it associates in flocks, the farmer often suffers from its depredations. It must not be supposed that these flocks commit their ravages with impunity, the gun thins their numbers; and as the living birds sweep screaming around their dead and wounded companions, and settle again in the place of danger, the whole flock is sometimes almost entirely extirpated. The flight of this species is rapid, graceful, and direct, and a general cry is kept up by the whole party while on the wing. The movements of these birds on the ground are slow and embarrassed, but on trees or tall strong plants they are very active, climbing about and hanging in every attitude. They roost in hollow trees, and incubate in similar cavities, many females, as Audubon assures us, depositing their

* Naturalists' Library, vol. vi.

eggs together. From the same observer we learn that these birds are fond of saline earth, and visit the different salt-licks interspersed through the woods. They delight also in rolling themselves in the sand, fo which purpose they often alight in flocks along the gravelly banks of rivers and creeks, and in other situations.