_J. Gould and H.C. Richter del^t._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
TRICHOGLOSSUS SWAINSONII, _Jard. and Selb._
Swainson’s Lorikeet.
_Perruche de Moluques_, Buff. Pl. Enl. 743.
_Blue-bellied Parrakeet_, Brown, Ill. of Zool., pl. 7.
_Blue-bellied Parrot_, White’s Voy., pl. in p. 140.—Phill. Bot. Bay.,
pl. in p. 152.—Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. viii. p. 413. pl. 59.
_Le Perruche à tête bleue_, male, Le Vaill. Hist. des Perr., tom. i.
pl. 24.
_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.
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