Psittacus Swainsonii, Russ. Synonyms: Trychoglossus Swainsonii, Psittacus Novoe Hollandice (hoematodus var. r), Psittacus hoematodus, Psittacus cyanogaster, Trichoglossus hoematodus, Trichoglossus multicolor, Trichoglossus Novoe Hollandice, etc.

German: Der Lori Von den Blauen Bergen.

Blue Mountain LORY.

French: La peruche a tete bleue, Lb Vail.

WITH the exception of the Paradise Parrakeet, which we consider to be a very near relation of the species under consideration, we know of no bird that has given rise to so much embittered controversy between amateurs, and to so much divergence of opinion among authors, as the beautiful bird that has been erroneously named the Blue Mountain Lory, seeing that it is an inhabitant of the vast plains of the interior of New South Wales, and not at all a native of the hills to the westward of Sydney, upon which the early settlers, looking at them from a distance of many miles, bestowed the name of the Blue Mountain range.

The Blue Mountain Lory is one of the handsomest, not only of the Australian Parrots, but takes foremost place among the most gorgeously apparelled members of the family that are to be met with in any part of the world. It is about the same length as the Cockatiel, namely, eleven or twelve inches, but is of stouter build than that graceful bird, and has a shorter tail.

The head and throat are purplish blue, the nape of the neck greenish yellow, the breast bright red, the belly blue, and all the rest of the body brilliant green, the under surface of the central tail feathers is yellow, the beak reddish orange, and the feet lead colour.

The female cannot with any certainty be distinguished from her mate, but is usually a very little smaller, though not invariably so.

The feathers of the head and neck are long and very narrow, and lie closely together; the under wing coverts are vermilion red; the claws are strong and hooked, and the tarsi rather short, indicating arboreal habits, and in fact the Blue Mountain seldom descends to the ground, but passes the greater part of its life among the gum-trees (Eucalypti), upon the pollen and nectar of which it principally subsists; but in times of scarcity it will also eat grass-seeds, and is never averse to a little insect food, for want of which, we believe, it often dies prematurely in captivity.

Dr. Russ mentions that a pair which were obtained from a London dealer in 1870 for two hundred and ten marks (ten guineas), were the first of these birds that were imported, but the London Zoological Society had obtained some of them two years previously, in 1868; for a long time, however, they remained at a high price, and even now a pair will fetch £3 in the bird-market, though occasionally an odd specimen, the mate of which has died, may be picked up for a much less sum.

Beautiful although he most undoubtedly is, the Blue Mountain Lory is not an encouraging bird to keep, for, although the odds against his living are not quite so high as Mr. Gedney would make it appear (100 to 1), he requires some amount of care and attention to preserve him in health for any length of time. Mr. Wiener, however, does not consider him either delicate or difficult to keep; and Dr. Buss gives the names of four German amateurs who have successfully bred him. Notwithstanding all this testimony in his favour, we warn amateurs to beware of the Blue Mountain Lory: dealers will tell them that he can bo kept without the least trouble on a diet of seed only: so he can - for a time; but after a while he will be found dead on the floor of his cage or aviary some morning - cause, a fit, the result of con-stipation from deprivation, for too lengthened a period, of his favourite food, pollen and nectar, not forgetting the insects of which, in his wild Mate, he pretty frequently partakes.

Dr. Russ recommends the following diet. - "Canary-seed, millet, hemp, and oats, with 'egg-bread', boiled rice, fresh or soaked ants' eggs, sweet rips frutt, cherries, berries of different kinds, grapes, dates, figs, etc,"

For six years in the aviary of a friend, "laying several eggs, though kept singly", tells US that it was fed on, "besides canary-seed and maize, a little sugar, with occasionally a morsel of raw beef scraped very fine, and mixed with scraped carrot."

Insect food seems to us to be indispensable for the well-being of these birds, and in addition to the dietary prescribed by Dr. Buss and Mr. Wiener, we would recommend mealworms and ants' eggs, or, failing these, gentles well scoured in bran; the latter insects are readily obtainable, and may be kept in the pupa stage all through the winter in a cellar, or cool plant-house, buried in sand.

Like all the Parrot family these Lories breed in hollow boughs, where the female deposits from three to four white eggs, about the same size as those of the Cockatiel, upon which she sits for twenty-one days: the young, from the first, resemble their parents closely, but are a trifle less brilliantly coloured.

"The Blue Mountain Lory is an extremely active, graceful, and handsome bird, but has a most abominable shriek", says Dr. Buss; a statement which Mr. Wiener corroborates in the following terms: - "His noise, however, is nearly as disagreeable as his plumage is beautiful," While Mr. Gedney, on the contrary, declares that it "has a soft agreeable note, and seldom indulges in any objectionable noises."

For our own part we agree with the former, rather than with the last testimony as to the vocal powers, or abilities of the Blue Mountain, whose voice we consider to be particularly harsh and unpleasing; but of course tastes differ, and a note that jars unpleasantly on one man's ear, may have an agreeable and soothing effect upon another.

We look upon these birds as most decidedly quarrelsome, and unfit to be trusted in a mixed company. Dr. Buss, however, considers that "in a bird-room with small. birds they are not dangerous, but they must not be kept with other Parrots."

Like most Parrots," says Mr. Wiener, in this connection, "the Blue Mountain Lory can only be kept with other Parrots at considerable risk, and I had to learn that two males put in one cage under the impression of being a pair can kill each other,"

Mr. Gedney again seems to have been peculiarly happy in his specimens, for of them he remarks, "But for the terribly sudden death which so soon overtakes these birds, they would be the most charming feathered pets that a lady could possess, for they have neither the power nor the inclination to bite savagely."

The same writer's recommendation to feed this Lory "exclusively upon soft food, in which honey forms a prominent part", doubtless in great measure accounts for his advice to those of his readers "whose susceptible natures would be shocked" by the sudden death of their favourite, "not to become the owner of a Blue Mountain Lory", for it is undeniable that they would not, and could not, long survive on "sweet sop" alone; in fact "sop" is an injudicious article of diet for any bird. If bread is given, it should be the crumb of a sweet white loaf, two days old, soaked for ten minutes, or thereabouts, in cold water, squeezed, and renewed at least twice a day; but Parrots can not, anymore than men, live on bread alone, and require, the Lory sub-family especially, a varied diet as already recommended.

Parrot "tins" are an abomination, for they can never be cleaned properly, and should not be used: delf-ware is far preferable, or enamelled iron-ware, both of which can be scalded and kept sweet, with comparatively little difficulty or trouble.

Mr. Gedney indeed says: "Those fanciers who become the owners of such birds (as the Blue Mountain) must be prepared to devote nearly as much care and attention to them as would be required by a newly-born child"; but he indulges in hyperbole here, for it is manifest that they do not and cannot, except perhaps in the matter of food, and scarcely there, for the preparation of food for a young child that is being attempted to be brought up by hand, is a far more serious affair, than the feeding of a couple of Lories as Dr. Buss or Mr. Wiener recommends; though where their diet is made to consist of "sop," we confess that much difficulty will be experienced in preventing that old fashioned article of infantine and Psittacidean diet from turning sour, when adieu to the chance of keeping either Parrot or child alive.

These birds are veritable honey-eaters, but unlike most of their congeners, they also partake of seeds, and moreover consume a considerable proportion of insect food, so that a due admixture of seeds, honey, fruit and animal food is necessary to maintain them not only in health, but in life: exclusively confined to any one of the above articles of food, these birds would certainly not long survive.

See to it then, owners of Blue Mountain Lories; let your birds have suitable food provided for them, and you will find that the authorities who pronounce these birds to be "not delicate", are right; while those who tell you that they will not live long in captivity are not wrong, for they belong to an obstinate race, these Blue Mountains, and prefer to "shuffle off this mortal coil" prematurely, to living on an unpalatable and unsuitable diet.

When dealers assure you that they keep these birds on seed, the statement must be accepted cum grano: doubtless they give them seed, and ought to do so, but they provide them with other food in addition to dry seed, upon which, however, the birds can subsist for a time, or they would very soon, as the dealers perfectly well know, soon have no Lories to keep.

Yet Bine Mountain Lories are unsatisfactory birds on the whole, for such as care about a little extra trouble, that is to say; but they are very beautiful, if not gifted with sweet voices; and though cruel to their captive companions, are amiable enough with their master or mistress, and not at all deserving of unconditional disapproval. In the country they readily learn to fly out and return at the word of command, and a little liberty when the lime trees are in blossom, or the gorse gilds the common with its myriad blooms, will enable the Blue Mountain to lay in a stock of health and vigour that will stand him in good stead for many days.

Mignonette in flower, groundsel-tops, dandelion blooms, cabbage blossoms, will be appreciated and gratefully received; hawthorn, too, apple and pear blossoms, if the latter can be spared, wallflowers, and, generally, such flowers as contain honey, especially clover, are good for these birds: but beware of the golden panicles of the laburnum, for they contain a deadly poison, as do the seeds, bark, roots, and even the leaves of that beautiful and most graceful tree.

No one can keep a Blue Mountain with the amount of care and attention sufficient to preserve a White Cockatoo in the. rudest of health; but it is a libel on a beautiful bird to say that he cannot be kept at all - he can: try it, O reader ! follow the plan we have recommended, and you will have your reward.

The Hon. And Rev. F. G. Dutton's Account Of The Blue Mountain Lory

This bird may divide the palm of beauty with the Beautiful Parakeet (Psephotus pulchierrimus) amongst the Australian Parrots, and would be a charming pet, but for its noisiness and its dirty habits.

But before I take away its character in this latter respect, I ought to add that I have never kept a pair trained to eat seed. I fed mine, as I fed my Purple-capped Lories, on dried figs soaked in hot water till they could be mashed into a pulp, mixed with soaked bun, and the whole made rather moist. I find the Lory tribe thrive on this food, but then it makes their droppings constant, fluid and very offensive. I am bound to say that a well-known dealer has shown me these birds living on canary-seed, whose plumage looked the picture of health, and whose cages were, for Parrots, very clean; yet I observed that even he did not venture to feed his Ceram, and Purple-capped Lories on seed; and although, he declared that the birds fed on soft food were liable to fits, and those fed on seed were not, it seems difficult to accept the statement without long and close observation.

That Parrots have great power of changing their food, the remarkable instance of the Ka-Ka (Nestor notabilis), which has become carnivorous within the memory of man, proves. But what a bird can do with impunity at liberty is very different from what it can do in confinement. Even the Ka-Ka itself is found at the Zoological Gardens to prefer a frugivorous diet when it has a choice, and there can be no doubt that the structure of the Blue Mountain's tongue points out for it a more or less fluid food. Now it is very well known that the fits of which aviary birds generally die are apoplectic, and it is also well known that anything like obstruction is a pre-disposing cause to apoplexy. It does not seem likely therefore that to give a bird, accustomed to relaxing food, one which has the very opposite effect will make it less liable to apoplexy. On the other hand, I must bear witness that the Blue Mountains I saw eating looked the picture of robust health. Granted that the seed diet is the best for them, and they at once become charming birds for an aviary. Their incessant activity and amusing ways, together with their extreme beauty, make them birds that it is always a pleasure to watch. They also are very fond of bathing, and I confess that I have a partiality to birds which tub well.

But they are not very suited to a room. Their cries, which are very ear-piercing are pretty nearly as incessant as their movements, I should think they would be capital birds to turn loose, if one had a pair same enough to start with, but I have never tried them in this.