Part 9

_Trichoglossus hæmatodus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 289.

—— _multicolor_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., tom. i. p. 553.

—— _Swainsonii_, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. iii. pl. 112.—Selb. Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. vi. Parrots, p. 153. pl. 20.—Swain. Zool. Ill. 2nd Ser., vol. ii. pl. 92.—Ib. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 304.

_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. Swainson’s observations, took an opportunity of naming this species _Swainsonii_, a tribute to the talents of that naturalist in which I most cordially participate.

The present bird, so far as is yet known, is almost exclusively an inhabitant of the south-eastern portion of the Australian continent lying between South Australia and Moreton Bay, at least I have never heard of its existence in any part westward of the former or northward of the latter. It also occurs in Van Diemen’s Land, but its visits to that island do not appear to be either regular or frequent.

The flowers of the various species of _Eucalypti_ furnish this bird with an abundant supply of food, and so exclusively is it confined to the forests composed of those trees, that I do not recollect to have met with it in any other. It also evinces a preference for those that are covered with newly expanded blossoms, which afford them the greatest supply of nectarine juice and pollen, upon which they principally subsist. However graphically it might be described, I scarcely believe it possible to convey an idea of the appearance of a forest of flowering gums tenanted by several species of _Trichoglossi_, _Meliphagi_, &c.; three or four species being frequently seen on the same tree, and often simultaneously attacking the pendent blossoms of the same branch. The incessant din produced by their thousand voices, and the screaming notes they emit, when a flock of either species simultaneously leave the trees for some other part of the forest, baffles all description, and must be seen and heard to be fully comprehended. So intent are the _Trichoglossi_ for some time after sunrise upon extracting their honey-food, that they are not easily alarmed or made to quit the trees upon which they are feeding. The report of a gun discharged immediately beneath them has no other effect than to elicit an extra scream, or cause them to move to a neighbouring branch, where they again recommence feeding with all the avidity possible, creeping among the leaves and clinging beneath the branches in every variety of position. During one of my morning rambles in the brushes of the Hunter I came suddenly upon an immense _Eucalyptus_, which was at least two hundred feet high. The blossoms of this noble tree had attracted hundreds of birds, both Parrots and Honey-suckers; and from a single branch I killed the four species of _Trichoglossi_ inhabiting the district, viz. _T. Swainsonii_, _chlorolepidotus_, _concinnus_ and _pusillus_. I mention this fact in proof of the perfect harmony existing between these species while feeding; a night’s rest, however, and the taming effect of hunger, doubtless contributed much to this harmonious feeling, as I observed that at other periods of the day they were not so friendly.

Although the _T. Swainsonii_ is so numerous in New South Wales, I did not succeed in procuring its eggs; the natives informed me that they are two in number, and that they are deposited in the holes of the largest _Eucalypti_, the period of incubation being from September to January.

Head, sides of the face and throat blue, with a lighter stripe down the centre of each feather; across the occiput a narrow band of greenish yellow; all the upper surface green, blotched at the base of the neck with scarlet and yellow; wings dark green on their outer webs; their inner webs black, crossed by a broad oblique band of bright yellow; tail green above, passing into blue on the tips of the two central feathers; under surface of the tail greenish yellow; chest crossed by a broad band, the centre of which is rich scarlet, with a few of the feathers fringed with deep blue, and the sides being rich orange-yellow margined with scarlet; under surface of the shoulder and sides of the chest deep blood-red; abdomen rich deep blue, blotched on each side with scarlet and yellow; under tail-coverts rich yellow, with an oblong patch of green at the extremity of each feather; bill blood-red, with the extreme tip yellow; nostrils and bare space round the eye brownish black; irides reddish orange, with a narrow ring of dark brown next the pupil; feet olive.

The sexes resemble each other so closely both in size and colouring that they cannot be distinguished with certainty.

The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.

TRICHOGLOSSUS RUBRITORQUIS, _Vig. and Horsf._ Red-collared Lorikeet.

_Trichoglossus rubritorquis_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 291.—Lear’s Ill. Psitt., pl. 34.—Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., tom. i. p. 552.

This lovely _Trichoglossus_ inhabits the northern coasts of Australia, and is as beautiful a representative of its near ally, the _T. Swainsonii_ of the south coast, as can well be imagined. In their habits and economy also the two birds so closely approximate that a description of one will serve for both. Independently of the richer blue of the head, the red nuchal collar and dull blackish olive mark on the abdomen are marks by which it may readily be distinguished. The Red-collared Lorikeet is by far the most beautiful bird of the two, and indeed in the splendour of its colouring is second to no member of its group.

The specimens from which my figures were taken were procured at Port Essington. Mr. Gilbert remarks, that “this species is abundant in all parts of the Cobourg Peninsula and the adjacent islands; and is an especial favourite with the natives, who carefully preserve the heads of all they kill for the purpose of ornamenting their persons, by slinging them to the arm a little above the elbow. It is generally seen in large flocks, feeding on the summits of the loftiest trees. Its flight is rapid in the extreme. Like the other _Trichoglossi_, its food consists of honey and the buds of flowers.”

Of its nidification nothing is yet known.

The sexes present little difference in appearance, and may be thus described:—

Head and cheeks resplendent blue; throat and abdomen deep olive-green; chest crossed by a broad band of orange-red; a narrow band of the same colour across the occiput, below which band is a broader one of deep blue, the basal portion of the feathers being red; back, wings, tail and under tail-coverts grass-green; basal half of the inner webs of the primaries yellow; irides red, with a narrow ring of yellowish round the pupil; bill vermilion; tarsi silken green in front; inside of the feet and back of the tarsi ash-grey.

The Plate represents a male and a female of the natural size.

TRICHOGLOSSUS CHLOROLEPIDOTUS, _Jard. and Selb._ Scaly-breasted Lorikeet.

_Psittacus chlorolepidotus_, Kuhl, Consp. Psitt. in Nov. Act., vol. x. p. 48.

_Trichoglossus Matoni, Vig. and Horsf_. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 292.

_Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus_, Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. iii. pl. 110.—Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., p. 550.

The present Lorikeet is one of the four species of this genus inhabiting New South Wales, which portion of Australia may be regarded as its stronghold, for I have never even seen a skin from any of the other colonies; hence, like many other species, it is very local, confined as it were to certain limits, and those of small extent. To give any detailed account of its habits and mode of life would be merely repeating what I have said respecting the _Trichoglossus Swainsonii_, with which it frequently associates and even feeds on the same branch; it is, however, not so numerous as that species, nor so generally distributed over the face of the country. The brushes near the coast, studded here and there with enormous gums, towering high above every other tree by which they are surrounded, are the localities especially resorted to by it: in the interior of the country, on the contrary, where the _Trichoglossus Swainsonii_ is equally as numerous as in the neighbourhood of the coast, I never observed it.

Its sole food is honey, gathered from the cups of the newly expanded blossoms of the _Eucalypti_, upon which it feeds to such an excess, that on suspending a fresh-shot specimen by the toes a large teaspoonful, at least, of liquid honey will flow from the mouth; hence, when we know this to be the natural food of the principal members of the group, how can it be expected that they can exist in captivity upon the hard seeds or farinaceous food so generally given as a substitute? A proper attention to the diet of these birds, by supplying them with food of a saccharine character, would doubtless be attended with the best results, and enable us to keep them as denizens of our cages and aviaries, as well as the other members of the family; and when it is considered that they are among the most elegant and beautiful of their tribe, I trust those who may have an opportunity will be induced to make a trial.

The Scaly-breasted Lorikeet breeds in all the large _Eucalypti_ near Maitland on the Hunter, but I regret to say I did not procure its eggs, or any information respecting its nidification.

The sexes are so closely alike as not to be outwardly distinguished.

All the upper surface, wings and tail rich grass-green; a few feathers at the back of the neck and all the feathers of the under surface bright yellow, margined at the tip with a crescent of grass-green, giving the whole a fasciated appearance; under surface of the shoulder and base of the primaries and secondaries rich scarlet; bill beautiful blood-red, inclining to orange at the tip; cere and orbits olive; irides in some specimens scarlet with a circle of buff round the pupil, in others buffy yellow.

The figures are of the natural size.

TRICHOGLOSSUS VERSICOLOR, _Vig._ Varied Lorikeet.

_Trichoglossus versicolor_, Vig. in Lear’s Ill. Psitt., pl. 36.—Selb. in Nat. Lib. Orn., vol. vi. Parrots, p. 157, pl. 21.

_W̏e-ro-ole_, Aborigines of Port Essington.

There is no other species of the genus _Trichoglossus_ yet discovered with which the present could be confounded; it is at once rendered conspicuously distinct from all its allies by the narrow stripe of yellow down the centre of the feathers of the upper and under surface; it will not therefore be necessary to enter into a minute description of its size and colour, particularly as the figures in the accompanying Plate are of the size of life, and as near the appearance of nature as it is possible to pourtray them.

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; when a flock is on the wing their movements are so regular and simultaneous that they might easily be mistaken for a cloud passing rapidly along, were it not for the utterance of their usual piercing scream, which is frequently so loud as to be almost deafening. They feed on the topmost branches of the _Eucalypti_ and _Melaleucæ_. I observed them to be extremely abundant during the month of August on all the small islands in Van Diemen’s Gulf.

“The stomach is membranous and extremely diminutive in size. The food consists of honey and minute portions of the blossoms of their favourite trees.”

Could this species be transmitted to Europe, and a kind of food suitable to it be discovered, it would form one of the most delightful cage-pets that has ever been introduced.

The male has the lores and crown of the head rich deep red; round the neck a collar of deep cærulean blue; back brownish green; wings green; rump and upper tail-coverts light yellowish green; across the chest a broad band of purplish red; under surface of the shoulder, abdomen, flanks and under tail-coverts light yellowish green; all the feathers of the upper surface with a narrow stripe of yellowish green; the stripes being more yellow at the occiput, almost form a band; ear-coverts yellow; all the feathers of the under surface with a narrow line of bright yellow down the centre; on each side of the abdomen and down the inside of the thighs stained with patches of purplish red; primaries black, margined externally with deep green, with a fine line of yellowish green on the extreme edge of the feathers; tail deep green, all but the two middle feathers greenish yellow on their internal webs; irides bright reddish yellow, with a very narrow ring of dark red next the pupil; bill scarlet; cere and naked space round the eyes greenish white; tarsi and feet light ash-grey.

The female resembles her mate, but is much less brilliant in all her markings.

The figures are those of a male and a female of the natural size.

TRICHOGLOSSUS CONCINNUS, _Vig. and Horsf._ Musky Parrakeet.

_Psittacus Australis_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 104.

_Psittacus concinnus_, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 87.—Kuhl, Nova Acta, tom. x. p. 46.

_Perruche à bandeau rouge_, Le Vaill. Perr., tom. i. p. 99. pl. 48.

_Pacific Paroquet_, Phill. Bot. Bay, pl. in p. 155.

_Pacific Parrot_, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 87.

_Pacific Parrakeet_, _Psittacus pacificus_, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 419.

_Crimson-fronted Parrakeet_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 181.

_Psittacus rubrifrons_, Bechst. Uebers der Vog., Lath. s. 84. no. 99.

_Trichoglossus concinnus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 292.—Jard. and Selb. Ill. Orn., vol. i. pl. 34.

_Lathamus concinnus_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 206.

_Trichoglossus Australis_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., tom. i. pp. 493 and 549.

_Psittacus velatus_, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxv. p. 373.—Ib. Ency. Méth. Orn., Part III. p. 1405.

_Coolich_, Aborigines of New South Wales.

_Musk Parrakeet_, Colonists.

This species of _Trichoglossus_ inhabits Van Diemen’s Land, New South Wales and South Australia, and is very generally distributed over all parts of those countries. I have never heard of its inhabiting either the western or northern portions of Australia, whence I infer that its habitat is restricted to the south and south-eastern divisions of the continent. Like every other species of the genus, the present bird is always to be found upon the _Eucalypti_, whose blossoms afford it a never-failing supply of honey, one or other of the numerous species of that tribe of trees being in flower at all seasons of the year. It is stationary in New South Wales, but I am not certain that it is so in the more southern country of Van Diemen’s Land, where it is known by the name of the Musk Parrakeet, from the peculiar odour of the bird.

It is a noisy species, and with its screeching note keeps up a perpetual din around the trees in which it is located. During its search for honey it creeps among the leaves and smaller branches in the most extraordinary manner, hanging and clinging about them in every possible variety of position. It generally associates in flocks, and is so excessively tame that it is very difficult to drive it from the trees, or even from any particular branch. Although usually associated in flocks it appears to be mated in pairs, which at all times keep together during flight, and settle side by side when the heat of the sun prompts them to shelter themselves under the shade of the more redundantly leaved branches.

The eggs, which are dirty white and two in number, are of a rounded form, one inch in length and seven-eighths of an inch in breadth. Those I obtained were taken from a hole in a large _Eucalyptus_ growing on the Liverpool range.

The sexes present no difference in colour, and the young assume the plumage of the adult at a very early age.

Forehead and ear-coverts deep crimson-red; at the upper part of the back a broad patch of light chestnut-brown; the remainder of the plumage grass-green; on the flanks a spot of orange; primaries and secondaries black, broadly margined on the external webs with grass-green; base of all but the inner webs of the lateral tail-feathers deep red at the base, passing into yellow and tipped with grass-green; bill blackish brown, passing into reddish orange at the tip; cere and orbits olive-brown; irides buff, surrounded by a narrow circle of yellow.

I was not aware, until after the impressions of the present plate had been printed, that Dr. Latham had applied the specific term of _Australis_ to this bird long before that of _concinnus_ was conferred upon it by Shaw; a fact, however, with which the accurate Wagler was acquainted, and which he has recorded in his valuable Monograph of the _Psittacidæ_ above quoted; the correct appellation of the species is therefore _Trichoglossus Australis_, Wagler.

The figures are of the natural size.

TRICHOGLOSSUS PORPHYROCEPHALUS, _Diet._ Porphyry-crowned Lorikeet.

_Psittacus purpurea_, Diet., Phil. Mag. 1832, vol. xi. p. 387.

_Psittacus purpureus_, Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., vol. x. p. 747.

_Trichoglossus porphyrocephalus_, Diet., Trans. Linn. Soc., vol. xvii. p. 553.

_Psittacula Florentis_, Bourj. de St. Hil., Supp. Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr., pl. 84.

_Kȍw-ar_, Aborigines of Western Australia.

This handsome little Lorikeet was first brought before the notice of the scientific world by Mr. Dietrichsen at the Meeting of the Linnean Society, held on the 20th of March, 1832; some confusion, however, exists as to the name then proposed for it. In a report of the Meeting published in the “Philosophical Magazine” for the same year it is called _Psittacus purpurea_; but in the seventeenth volume of the “Linnean Transactions” it is correctly placed in the genus _Trichoglossus_, with the far more appropriate specific appellation of _porphyrocephalus_, which I therefore retain.

Although the Porphyry-crowned Lorikeet has been thus long described, it is still very rarely to be seen in collections, a fact which may be accounted for by the circumstance of its being an inhabitant of those parts of Australia with which we have hitherto had little intercourse.

It is not found in New South Wales, and I do not recollect ever having seen it in collections from any of the eastern parts. It is abundant in South Australia, is equally numerous in the white-gum forests of Swan River, and in all probability is dispersed over the whole of the intermediate country. It is the only species of the genus I have seen from Western Australia, a circumstance which cannot be accounted for, since the face of the country is covered with trees of a similar character.

Most of the specimens I collected were shot during the months of June and July in the neighbourhood of Adelaide, and some of them in the town itself. It appears to arrive in this district at the flowering season of the _Eucalypti_, in company with _Trichoglossus Swainsonii_, _concinnus_ and _pusillus_, all of which may frequently be seen on the same tree at one time: the incessant clamour kept up by multitudes of these birds baffles description; the notes of the larger species are, however, distinguishable by their superiority in harshness and loudness; they feed together in perfect amity, and it is not unusual to see two or three species on the same branch. They are all so remarkably tame, that any number of shots may be fired amongst them without causing the slightest alarm to any but those that are actually wounded. Although strictly gregarious, they appear to be always mated in pairs, which accompany each other in their various movements among the branches. The whole of one species frequently leave the tree simultaneously, rushing off with amazing quickness in search of other trees laden with newly-expanded flowers, among which they dash and commence feeding with the utmost eagerness, clinging and creeping among the branches in every possible attitude. As this tribe of birds depends solely for its subsistence upon the flowers of the gum-trees, their presence in any locality would be vainly sought for at any season when those trees are not in blossom.

The sexes are precisely alike in size and in the colour of their plumage.

Forehead, lores and ear-coverts yellow, intermingled with scarlet; crown of the head deep purple; back of the head and neck yellowish green; wing-coverts and rump grass-green; shoulder light blue; under surface of the wing crimson; primaries blackish brown, margined externally with deep green, the extreme edge being greenish yellow; tail green above, golden beneath; throat and under surface greenish grey, passing into golden green on the flanks and under tail-coverts; bill black; irides in some dark brown, in others light reddish brown, with a narrow ring of orange round the pupil; feet bluish flesh-colour.

The figures are of the natural size.

TRICHOGLOSSUS PUSILLUS, _Vig. and Horsf._ Little Parrakeet.

_Psittacus pusillus_, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. p. 106.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 471.—Kuhl, Nova Acta, tom. x. p. 47.

_Perruche à face rouge_, Le Vaill. Perr., tom. i. p. 124. pl. 62.

_Small Parrakeet_, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. ii. p. 88.

_Small Paroquet_, _Psittacus pusillus_, Shaw in White’s Journ., pl. in p. 262.

_Small Parrot_, Lath. Gen. Hist., vol. ii. p. 194.

_Trichoglossus pusillus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p. 293.—Wagl. Mon. Psitt. in Abhand., tom. i. pp. 493 and 548.

_Lathamus pusillus_, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 206.

_Jerryang_, Aborigines of New South Wales.