EOS RETICULATA.
Blue-streaked Lory.
Blue-necked Lory, Lath. Gen. Hist. B. ii. p. 136 (1822).
Lorius bomeus, Less. (nee. Steph.) Traité d’Orn. p. 192 (1831).—Salvad. Ucc. di Borneo, p. 27, note (1874).
Psittacus reticulatus, Müll. Verh. Natuurl. Gesch. Land- en Volkenk. pp. 107, 108 (1839-44).—Gray, Gen. B. ii.
p. 42 (1846)&
Eos cyanostriata, Gray & Mitch. Gen. B. ii. p. 417, pi. 103 (1845).—Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. As. Soc. p. 11 (1849)__
Bp. P. Z. S. 1850,-p. 29.—Id. Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1854, p. 156.—Id. Naum. 1856, Consp. Psitt. no.
303.—Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1860, p. 226.—Wall. Ibis, 1861, p. 311.—Id. P. Z.S. 1864, p. 290.
Eos bomea, Souancé, Rev. et Mag. de Zool. 1856, p. 226.—Gray, List Psittac. Brit. Mus. p. 52 (1859).
Eos reticulata, Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1860, p. 226.—Wall. Ibis, 1861, p. 311.—Rosenb. J. f. 0 . 1862, p. 61.—
Salvad. Ann. Mus. Civic. Genov, x. p. 33 (1877).—Id. Orn. Papuasia e delle Molucche, i. p. 245 (1880)__
Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 18S3, p. 51.
Psittacus cyanostictus, Schlegel, Handl. Dierk. i. p. 184 (1857).
Eos, sp., Rosenb. J . f. 0 . 1862, p. 65.
Psittacus QEos) guttalus, Rosenb. Nat. Tijdschr. Nederl. Ind. xxv. p. 145 (1863),
Lorius reticulatus, Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Psittaci, p. 128 (1864).—Finsch, Neu-Guinea, p. 157 (1865).—
Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Psittaci, Revue, p. 58 (1874).
Domicella reticulata, Finsch, Papag. ii. p. 797 (1868).
Eos reticulatus, Gray, Hand-list of Birds, ii. p. 154, no. 8203 (1870).
T h e above synonymy, culled from Count Salvadori’s well-known ‘ Ornitologia della Papuasia,’ would seem
to indicate that this beautiful P a rro t had been known for a long tim e ; and this is, indeed, the case ; but the
only European who has shot the species in its native haunts has been Mr. H. O. Forbes, who procured several
examples during his recent expedition to the Tenimber Islands.
Various islands have been given as the home o f this species, such as Borneo by Lesson, Celebes by Blyth ;
and in the Leiden Museum the habitat was set down as Amboina. Captain Chambers was the first to indicate
its true home when he presented two specimens to the B ritish Museum as from Timor Laut, and Mr. Wallace
afterwards confirmed this habitat by finding that the native traders often brought living examples from
Timor Laut to Celebes.
Mr. Forbes informs us th at the species is common in all the islands o f the Tenimber group which he
visited, and th at it is everywhere a favourite cage-bird with the natives.
The following description is taken from one o f Mr. Forbes’s specimens in the British Museum >'
Adult male. General colour above blood-red, the head and hind neck uniform, the. mantle striped
with beautiful blue in the centre o f the fea th e rs ; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts obscurely
marked with dusky blackish a t the tips ; scapulars black with red on the outer web and a t the tips, varying
in extent and in some feathers occupying the whole o f the outer web ; lesser and median wing-coverts blood-
red, the inner ones with black on the inner web, which is more distinct on the bastard wing and greater
wing-coverts, and gives a varied appearance; primary-coverts and primaries black, narrowly edged with
blood-red, increasing in extent so as to occupy the base o f the inner primaries ; the secondaries blood-red,
with black shafts and a broad bar o f black at the end, decreasing in extent towards the inner secondaries,
the innermost being entirely b lack ; centre tail-feathers black, the rest blood-red on the inner web, black on
the outer, the external webs diagonally red a t the tips, with the shaft black ; ear-coverts blackish, streaked
with dull blue ; cheeks and throat bright r e d ; the rest of the under surface from the lower throat downwards
deep blood-red with dusky ends to the feathers, the plumes o f the thighs and lower flanks with black bases,
the latter with blue e n d s ; under wing-coverts, axillaries, and inner lining o f quills beautiful blood-red, remainder
o f quills black below; “ upper mandible scarlet, the tip orange-red; lower mandible the sam e ; legs and
feet black ; iris rich brown ” (.H. 0 . Forbes). Total length 12 inches, culmen 0*85, wing 9*0, tail 8 ‘5,
tarsus 0'65.
Adult female. Similar in colour to the male. Total length 12 inches, wing 6‘6, tail 5 4 , tarsus 0 ‘7.
The specimen o f this sex in the British Museum, sent by Mr. Forbes, is a very brilliant bird, and is streaked
with blue on the sides o f the rump and upper tail-coverts; a t the end o f the black centre tail-feathers is
a subterminal oval spot o f red.
The figures in the Plate represent a pair o f birds, o f the natural siz e ; they have been drawn from two o f
Mr. Forbes’s specimens.