Lorikeet

“ The flight of these Lorikeets is very powerful, and as straight as that of an arrow: they rise with surprising rapidity, dart through the air uttering noisy cries, and climb the trees with much adroitness, more in the manner of a Titmouse than of a Parrot. After sunrise they are so busily occupied in imbibing the nectar from the flowers, that they can scarcely be frightened from their perch, and Gould found that the firing of a gun had no other result than a loud scream, or merely caused some of the birds to quit the branch that had been aimed at, and settle on another. ”

“ A bird's color usually affords it protection from its natural enemies. These are mainly birds of prey flying overhead. Thus, speaking generally, protective coloration applies only to the upper surface, so that a white throat or under surface does not necessarily render a bird conspicuous to its natural enemies.
Again, a bird may be very conspicuous when seen away from its natural surroundings, but the concealment may be perfect under natural conditions. It has been already mentioned that the gorgeous Blue Mountain Lorikeet was very difficult to discern in its native sugar-gums. ”

“ The northern coast is the only part of Australia in which this elegant little Lorikeet has yet been discovered: it is particularly abundant at Port Essington, where its suctorial mode of feeding leads it, like the other members of the genus, to frequent the flowery Eucalypti. Mr. Gilbert says, “This bird congregates at times in immense flocks ”

“ Being highly ornamental and bearing a pleasant stony juicy fruit of the colour and size of a small orange, it has been introduced into nearly all Australian gardens. The name Native Loquat has been given to an indigenous shrub, Rhodomyrtus macrocarpa, Benth., N.O. Myrtaceae.
Lorikeet, n. a bird-name, little Lory (q.v.) . The species in Australia are—
Blue-bellied Lorikeet—
Trichoglossus novae-hollandiae, Gmel. ”

“ Warrin, Aborigines of New South Wales.
This beautiful Lorikeet, so familiar to every ornithologist, has been for many years confounded with two other nearly allied species, and hence has arisen an almost inexplicable mass of confusion respecting them; their true synonymies have, however, been most ably worked out by Mr. Swainson in a paper sent by him to Sir William Jardine and Mr. Selby for insertion in their “Illustrations of Ornithology,” wherein those gentlemen, fully satisfied of the justness of Mr. ”

“ Little has been learnt by travellers of the incubation of this species, but it would seem that the flocks do not divide in the breeding season; as many couples build upon one tree as can find room upon it. The nest is made in the holes of trees during the month of October, and contains from two to four white round eggs. In certain parts of Australia the Lorikeets are great favourites with the natives, who string their heads into chains, with which they deck themselves as with garlands. ”

“ The name Macaw is applied to Ara and its nearest allies, Love-bird to Agapornis and Psittacula, Parakeet to Platycercus and Palaeornis, Lorikeet to Loriculus, Charmosyna, and Coriphilus, Lory to Eclectus, Trichoglossus, Lorius, Chalcopsittacus, and Eos, King Lory to Aprosmictus.
Parrots usually feed and roost in company, though in Eclectus the habits are said to be more solitary; the males are, however, monogamous, each courting a single female, which twitters and rolls the head from side to side when love-making. ”

“ The arboreal group of Trichoglossi or honey-eating Lorikeets, if not so numerous in species as the grass-feeding Parrakeets, are individually much more abundant and are more universally dispersed, being found in every part of the country yet visited; several species inhabit New South Wales: only one has yet been found in Western Australia. Other members of the genus are found in New Guinea and the Moluccas, but Australia is the great nursery for the birds of this form. ”

“ They frequently learn to eat seed like other parrots, but, if fed exclusively upon this, are apt, especially if deprived of abundance of exercise, to suffer from fits which are usually fatal. Fruit is also readily eaten by the lories and lorikeets, and should always be supplied. ”

“ Lories of different kinds were numerous and included some of the most brilliantly coloured species, Lorius erythrothorax combining in its plumage black, crimson, scarlet, purple, blue, green and bright yellow. The adult has the under wing-coverts uniform scarlet in marked contrast to the bright yellow inner webs of the primary quills, but in younger birds the smaller under wing-coverts are mottled with scarlet, blue, black, green and yellow and the long outer series are yellow with greyish-black ends, making a dark band at the base of the quills. ”

“ Despite his beauty, the Blue Mountain Lory is not a desirable bird to keep, as he requires great care. A female which survived six years in an aviary, laying several eggs, though kept singly, was fed on canary seed, maize, a little sugar, raw beef and carrots. ”

“ The rook is common throughout the British Islands, and is our best-known large land bird, being everywhere the most abundant species, as well as the most conspicuous, owing to his great size, blackness, gregariousness, and habits of perching and nesting on the tops of trees, and of feeding on open grass spaces, where it is visible at a long distance. Without being a favourite of either the gamekeeper or the farmer, he is, in a measure, a protected species, the rookery being looked on as a pleasant and almost indispensable appanage of the country-house. ”

“ The slender loris, which has the ordinary furry coat of the lemurs, and no tail, moves on the branches exactly as does a chameleon. Each hand or foot is slowly raised, brought forward, and set down again. The fingers then as slowly close on the branch till its grasp is secure. It is like a slow-working mechanical toy. Probably this is a habit, now instinctive, gained by ages of cautiously approaching insects. ”

“ When insects are given to this bird, he is not so particular as his neighbour, but devours them instantly entire, either dead or alive, looking immediately afterwards for another supply. The food given to it is boiled rice, grasshoppers, &c. Like others of its tribe, it is fond of pilfering and concealing whatever is heedlessly left in its way, and it can carry off. To speak phrenologically, its acquisitiveness is large, and conscientiousness small.
Several beautiful Loris, from the islands of the eastern Archipelago, clothed in brilliant and gaudy plumage, are in the collection. ”

“ When insects are abroad, he eats the more dainty small ones, young grasshoppers and locusts before they get big and tough, small beetles and larvæ; and baby larks are fed on them. But he doesn't starve when they are gone; he is fond of seeds of weeds and grasses.
The nest of the horned lark is on the ground, and the little mother is very clever in hiding it, and not showing people where it is. Many birds, you know, will stay on the nest till one almost steps on them, and then fly up with a great fuss, thus telling their secret. ”

“ The most numerous and noticeable birds about Loch Maree in the months of May, June, and July, are the black-backed gulls. They fly with great speed and apparently little effort. I have often endeavoured, watch in hand, to estimate the velocity of their flight, and I have come to the conclusion that in a calm atmosphere, or with a favourable breeze, they attain the speed of a quick train, viz., nearly fifty miles an hour. They breed on the islands of Loch Maree, and appear to have almost displaced the herring gulls, which used to be pretty numerous on the islands. ”

“ Numerous illustrations are cited by Lamarck which serve to make his meaning clear. The long legs of wading birds are produced and extended by stretching to keep above the water; the long neck and bill of storks are produced by their habit of life; the long neck of the giraffe is due to reaching for foliage on trees; the web-footed birds, by spreading the toes when they strike the water, have stimulated the development of a membrane between the toes, etc. In the reverse direction, the loss of the power of flight in the "wingless" bird of New Zealand is due to disuse of the wings ”

“ The Slow-Loris varies greatly in size and colour in the different regions it inhabits, and its varieties have been recognised by many naturalists as distinct species.
Every shade of colour occurs among specimens from different habitats. The colour varies between rufescent grey, or greyish-rufous, or white (with a brown tinge showing through from below) and silvery grey. The dorsal stripe varies from rufous to dull grey or even black, expanding out, or not, on the crown of the head, arms, and cheeks, bifurcating to the orbital rings and ear-patches, or to one or other only. ”

“ On the approach of evening they awake, and during the night ramble among the branches of trees slowly, in search, of food, which consists of leaves and fruit, small birds, insects and mice. When in quest of living prey they move noiselessly till quite close, and then suddenly seize it with one of their hands. The female produces but one young at a time. In the second genus, represented only by the slender loris (Loris gracilis) of southern India and Ceylon, the upper incisors are very small and equal. ”

“ It is also found in Florida, Cape St. Lucas, Mexico, and Central America. Accidental specimens have occurred in Europe.
This lark is a bird of easy and beautiful flight, passing and repassing through the air with graceful evolutions, and when moving to new localities, sweeping over the place several times before alighting. It also moves rapidly on the ground and after the manner of the true larks, jerking the tail like our Water-Thrushes and the European Wagtails.
When feeding on the open ground in the interior, their food is chiefly insects and small seeds. ”

“ A rather rare bird was a specimen, in excellent condition and feather, of the grey crow, at one time quite a common bird along the shores of the West Highlands, but owing to the incessant war waged against them by shepherds, gamekeepers, and vermin-trappers, now become so rare that we stopped our pony to have a good look at a pair that we saw the other day near Strontian, at the head of Loch Sunart. ”

“ Incubation is performed by the male as well as by the female, but each searches for its own food during the intervals of sitting.
The young are at first fed on crickets, grasshoppers, and other insects; but as they become larger and stronger, they receive portions of mice, which form the principal food of the grown birds at all seasons. The Loggerheads rear only one brood in the season.
Whilst this species is on wing, its motions are very rapid and direct, its flight being produced by quick flutterings of the wings, without any apparent undulation. ”

“ While his mate is sitting on her eggs, the male Lark, apparently timid at all other times, is remarkably bold, and drives away other birds that venture too near their nest. He not only watches over her and seeks to protect her, but assiduously supplies her with food. ”

“ In those happy days when the discovery of a nest marked a red-letter day, I never saw my Sparrows or Greenfinches refuse a Locust because he was not moving, or a Fly because she was dead. Any mouthful that does not kick is eagerly accepted, provided that it be fresh and pleasant to the taste.
If the insect, therefore, relies on the appearance of death, it would seem to me to be very badly inspired. More wary than the Bear in the fable, the bird, with its perspicacious eye, will recognize the fraud in a moment and proceed to business. ”

“ Eggs very light blue, with scattered spots of ash-colour and dark brown.
This lively and active bird, inferior in size as well as dignity to the Rook, yet in many respects resembles it so closely that it might be fabled to have made the Rook its model, and to have exercised its imitative powers in the effort to become the object of its admiration. A vain effort, however; for nature has given to it a slender form, a shriller voice, a partially grey mantle, and an instinct which compels it to be secretive even in the placing of its nest. ”

“ Like all the parrot family these Lories breed in hollow boughs, where the female deposits from three to four white eggs, upon which she sits for twenty-one days. The young from the first resemble their parents closely, but are a trifle less brilliantly colored. ”

“ Although we have placed this among our familiar British Birds, the eggs to English collectors are rare and difficult of attainment, and should be prized accordingly. The scientific name given to the species is Loxia curvirostra, both the terms having reference to the shape of the beak, the first coming from the Greek loxos, curved, and the latter from the Latin curvus, curved or bent, and rostra, the beak. By some naturalists Europæa is the generic term, and this so closely resembles the English name as to require no explanation. ”

“ During autumn and winter, Larks congregate in large flocks, and occupy their time principally in searching for food on the ground. If disturbed, they rise in a scattered manner, wheel about in the air until the flock is formed again, chirping from time to time, and then withdraw, not in a compact body, but at unequal distances from the earth and from each other, to a new feeding-ground, over which they hover with circling flight for some time before alighting. On trees they never perch; though one or two may occasionally be seen settled on a quickset hedge or a railing. ”

“ In exchange it has received a fretful temper, which seems a permanent trait in this species. When wakened it growls, bites, and fights, until once more allowed to sleep in peace. This loris hardly falls short of the beauty of the lemurs. The fur is cream-coloured, with a cinnamon stripe running from the head down the back. Of the three species which we have described, the first seems to combine some of the characteristics of the monkey and the mole, the second of the squirrel and the bat, the last those of the monkey and the weasel tribe. The “Slender Loris” is a still greater puzzle. ”